April 20, 2008

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Consecutive run-scoring singles off the bats of juniors Wesley Borden (State College, Pa.) and Kyle Carver (Aldan, Pa.) in the top of the eighth inning plated the tying and winning runs and Villanova (18-20, 5-10 Big East) rallied past Louisville (23-15, 8-7 Big East) on Sunday afternoon at Patterson Stadium, winning 3-1 to avoid a three-game sweep.

Sophomore Brian Streilein (Staten Island, N.Y.) pitched 7 1/3 brilliant innings for the victory and relievers Ryan Shockley (Seaford, Del.) and Josh Eidell (Norristown, Pa.) combined for the final five outs to secure the only lead the Wildcats had all weekend.

Villanova had trailed 1-0 since the bottom of the second inning but senior Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) got the Wildcats started in the top of the eighth with a one-out double off the fence in left-center field. It was nearly his second home run in as many days but instead started a Villanova rally. Senior Dan Terpak (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) singled off of reliever B.J. Rosenberg (4-3, 4.74 ERA) to give the Wildcats runners at the corners with nobody out.

After Rosenberg struck out senior James Dolbier (Lebanon, N.J.) for the second out of the inning, Borden singled to left field on a 2-and-1 pitch to tie the game and Carver hit the very next pitch to the same spot to put Villanova in front 2-1. In the top of the ninth inning, senior Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) tripled home junior Joe Cotter (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) with an insurance run to close the scoring.

Streilein (3-3, 5.40 ERA) scattered just five hits in his fifth conference start and walked four with five strikeouts to quiet a Cardinal offense that had scored 12 runs in each of the first two games of the series. He surrendered a leadoff home run to Stewart Ijames in the bottom of the second inning but overcame throwing 47 pitches in the first two frames to pitch efficient baseball into the late innings. He wound up throwing better than 60 percent of his pitches for strikes and allowed multiple base runners in an inning just once after the second.

Meanwhile, the Wildcat offense started to round into form as the 12 hits for the team were just two fewer than the squad's combined total from the first two games. Carver went 3-for-4 and five different Villanova hitters had multi-hit games. The top four hitters in the lineup - consisting of Cotter, Arcadia, Shunk and Terpak - combined to go 8-for-18 and score all three of the team's runs.

Ijames had three hits for Louisville but was the only Cardinal with more than one hit. In the first two games of the series, Louisville had each of its starters get a hit in both games and totaled 30 hits before being held to just six hits today.

The Wildcat pitching and clutch hitting in the late innings dealt a hard-luck no-decision to freshman Bob Revesz, who made his first conference start and pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings. Revesz allowed six hits, one walk and struck out seven after having pitched eight innings of a 5-4 win over Indiana on Tuesday. Gabriel Shaw got out of the seventh inning got out of the seventh inning before allowing Shunk's rally-starting double in the eighth.

The big hit by Shunk to start the rally offered a slight measure of redemption for his at-bat in the fifth inning, when he struck out to end the inning with runners at second and third. After there were two out and nobody on, Cotter singled through the left side and Arcadia doubled down the left field line before Revesz escaped the jam. It was the only time Shunk was retired all day, as he also drew a walk in the fourth inning.

Villanova avoided being swept in a conference series for the second straight weekend and recorded a victory that is critical to the team's hopes of remaining in the race for one of eight spots in the conference tournament next month.

The Wildcats play a weekday road game at Temple on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and will be back at home on Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. to host Saint Joseph's.