April 8, 2008

Box Score

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - Senior shortstop Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) tied the school's career hits record and junior Matt McFolling (Chicago, Ill.) drove in five runs on Tuesday afternoon in a 16-2 Villanova (14-15) victory over Penn (11-12-1) at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth. The Wildcats scored five times in the first inning and five times in their final at-bat in a game that was never in doubt.

Shunk led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single through the left side for the 242nd hit of his career. That tied the program record set by Matt Longo (1998-01). Shunk exited the game for pinch runner Colin Sabean (Belmont, Calif.) and finished the day 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and two driven in.

The Quakers had no answer in the game for McFolling, who drilled two doubles and a two-run home run on three successive pitches in his first three at-bats. He added a single in the eighth inning to finish with four hits and nine total bases on the afternoon. McFolling drove in a run with a double to left field in the first inning, doubled to right in the second inning and then hit his third home run of the year down the right field line in the fourth.

Senior James Dolbier (Lebanon, N.J.) added three hits and three runs batted in for Villanova and classmate Robert Parks (Brick, N.J.) was 2-for-4 with two RBI. The Wildcats finished the day with 16 hits and 25 total base runners thanks to six walks, two hit batters and a fielding error by Penn.

On the mound, redshirt freshman Chris Pack (Hinsdale, Ill.) earned his second win of the season. Working on a declared pitch count, Pack (2-3, 5.73 ERA) scattered seven hits and two runs (one earned) over four innings of work. He yielded to a trio of relievers who combined to allow just two hits over five scoreless innings. Sophomore Kevin Crimmel (Harrisburg, Pa.) and junior Michael Mayer (Midland Park, N.J.) each worked two scoreless frames and freshman Mike Francisco (Newtown Square, Pa.) pitched around a pair of walks in the ninth.

Will Davis had three hits and a run scored for the Quakers, who scored both their runs on the same play in the top of the fourth inning. William Gordon was at second with one out and came in to score on Davis' hit to right-center field. A potential throw to the plate to nail Gordon was cut off in an attempt to throw Davis out advancing to second base, but the throw to second sailed into the outfield and allowed Davis to come all the way around to score.

Matt Toffaletti (0-1, 8.44) was the first of six pitchers for Penn and was charged with the loss in his first start of the season. He surrendered five runs on five hits with one walk in the bottom of the first inning.

Villanova hosts Lehigh tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. in its next game.

NOTES: The six-game winning streak for the Wildcats matches the team's longest since a six-game streak from April 13-22, 2006 ... The last time Villanova had a longer winning streak was a stretch of seven straight wins from February 27 - March 7, 2004 ... Freshman Sean Carberry (Brooklyn, N.Y.) registered his first collegiate hit with a single to center field in the eighth inning ... After pinch-running and scoring for Shunk earlier in the eighth inning, Sabean wound up with an at-bat later in the inning and singled home the final run of the game for his third hit of the year ... The Villanova pitching staff has an ERA of 2.67 during the six-game winning streak and an ERA of 2.27 in home games this season ... The Wildcats are 10-1 in the friendly confines of the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.