April 14, 2005

Final Stats

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Nine walks and 12 stolen bases supplemented a nine-hit attack for the Wildcats, and Villanova (20-8-1) captured its third championship in the Liberty Bell Classic with a 9-5 victory over Lehigh (16-13-1) on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

The Wildcats played the game looking to exact a bit of revenge against the Mountain Hawks, who defeated Villanova 11-3 in last season's championship game, earning their first-ever Liberty Bell title at the expense of the Wildcats. Unlike last year's game, in which Lehigh broke open a close game with nine runs in the final three innings, Villanova stretched the margin early on. The Wildcats scored a single run in the first inning, before going on to add five runs in the third and two more in the fourth to build an 8-0 lead.

The Wildcats quickly familiarized themselves with the outfield alleys at the home of the Philadelphia Phillies. The second batter of the game, freshman Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.), drove a ball into the gap in right-center field that fell in and rolled to the wall for a triple. He scored the first run of the game one out later on a single up the middle by junior Jeremy Hunt (Tampa, Fla.).

Villanova broke things open in the third, getting five runs despite having just three hits. Senior Angelo Petracca (Sanford, Fla.) was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, and Hunt drew a walk. The walk chased starting pitcher Joel Hockman, but senior Alan Day (Lake Ridge, Va.) greeted the Mountain Hawks reliever with a drive deep into the gap in left-center field. The ball dropped into one of the corners that make up the warning track at Citizens Bank Park, and both runners scored as Day raced all the way to third for the team's second triple of the game. Later in the inning, freshman James Dolbier (Lebanon, N.J.) scored with two outs when a throw to first base could not be handled on a potential inning-ending groundout. Junior designated hitter Craig Mirsky (Holland, Pa.) followed with a single to score junior Kris Molloy (Hillsborough, N.J.), who had reached on the error and then stole second base.

The offensive onslaught, in terms of both hits and stolen bases, continued in the fourth inning. Hunt singled and stole second base with one out, then stole third with two outs. Senior Mark Cardillo (Naples, Fla.) singled to right field to bring in Hunt, and Dolbier also scored when the throw from right field went astray.

While the offense worked on breaking out of the team-wide slump that had affected the hitters over the past two weeks, starting pitcher Jim Baxter (Point Pleasant, N.J.) cruised into the sixth inning with a two-hit shutout. However, after striking out the first two batters of the sixth inning, Baxter walked the next three, and left after throwing 90 pitches in his outing. Relief pitcher Nate Hall (Longmont, Colo.) walked home a run, but then induced a groundball to third to end the inning. Baxter (4-1, 4.00) wound up allowing two hits and one earned run in 5.2 innings. He walked five and struck out six in his 11th appearance and fifth start of the season.

Lehigh added another run in the seventh inning, and then made things interesting in the eighth. The Mountain Hawks scored twice off reliever Frank Jankowski (Berwick, Pa.), and had the bases loaded with one out. Junior Ted Aust (Phoenix, Ariz.) was then brought into the game to try and work out of the jam. Aust worked to a 2-2 count, but a potential out pitch missed high by the smallest of margins, sending the count full. The batter, Matt Capell, eventually worked a walk to force home a fifth run, and bring the tying run to the plate. Aust escaped further damage, however, getting back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. Senior Mike Grodecki (Northbrook, Ill.) pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the game.

Hunt was 2-for-3 in the game, as each Villanova starter reached base at least one time. Hunt, Dolbier and Molloy each scored two runs, and Day had two RBI. Molloy was the ringleader along the way to the 12 stolen bases, as he tied his season high with three steals. Hunt and Dolbier had two stolen bases apiece.

Designated hitter Matt McBride was 2-for-3 with a run scored to lead Lehigh, while Andrew Smith and Jeff Benfield each scored and drove in a run. The Mountain Hawks, who are out of the Patriot League and play four conference games each weekend, went with a committee of pitchers. Following Hockman, seven Lehigh relievers combined to pitch the remainder of the game.

The Wildcats return to action this weekend when they begin a stretch of playing its next nine BIG EAST games on the road. Villanova will visit the Pittsburgh Panthers for a doubleheader on Saturday, followed by a single game on Sunday. The games each day will get underway at Noon.

NOTES: The Wildcats three Liberty Bell titles are tied for the second most in the 14-year history of the tournament ... Delaware has won six titles, while Temple and Villanova each have three ... Drexel and Lehigh are the only other teams to have won a championship ... The Wildcats defeated St. Joseph's and Penn to reach tonight's final, while Lehigh defeated Lafayette and La Salle ... Villanova has drawn at least five walks in each of its last six games, including at least seven free passes in five of those games ... The squad averages 4.7 walks per game and has an on-base percentage of .389 ... The 12 stolen bases for the team were a season-high ... The Wildcats now have 61 steals on the season (2.2/game) ... The team is on pace to steal 117 bases in its 56-game schedule ... The current season record is 89 steals, set in 1997 ... Aust has not allowed an earned run in his last 11.1 innings ... That streak includes five appearances, in which he has allowed just an unearned run ... Aust has inherited a team-high 16 runners in his 13 relief appearances this season ... He has stranded 10 of those runners (62.5%) ... Villanova relief pitching has stranded 21 of 44 inherited runners this season (47.7%).