Villanova University

April 29, 2007

Recap |  Box Score

Villanova ended a 12-game losing streak in true road games with today's win. The last road win for the Wildcats came on February 23 in a 6-1 triumph over Alabama in the opener of a three-game series. Villanova is 4-13 in road games this season (not including a 3-1 record in neutral-site games).

The Wildcats also ended a 10-game losing streak in BIG EAST road games with the win over Cincinnati. The last time Villanova won a conference game on the road was on April 30, 2006 when the team defeated West Virginia 12-9 to avoid a three-game sweep in Morgantown.

Junior Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) has the longest current hitting streak on the team at six games. His infield single in the eighth inning of the game was his lone hit of the contest. The single was also the 196th career hit for Shunk, who is four hits away from becoming the ninth Wildcat ever with at least 200 career hits.

Before winning today's game, Villanova had lost 17 straight games that it trailed after seven innings. The Wildcats rallied in the eighth inning for a 9-7 win over Norfolk State on February 17 in the second game of the season. Since Joe Godri became head coach in 2002, the Wildcats are just 8-93 (.079) in games they trail after seven innings. Two of the wins in these situations are against Cincinnati. Last season at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth, Villanova tied the game in the ninth and won in the 11th against the Bearcats to end a 74-game losing streak in situations where it trailed after the seventh inning.

Sophomore Joe Cotter (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) is the top Villanova hitter this season with runners in scoring position and with the bases loaded. He is hitting .500 (22-for-44) in RBI situations and has batted .700 (7-for-10) with 14 RBI with the bases loaded. This week alone, Cotter has come to the plate three different times with the bases loaded. In those three at-bats he has gone 3-for-3 with six RBI, including a three-RBI triple against Temple on Tuesday.

Freshman Brian Streilein (Staten Island, N.Y.) picked up his second win this week in today's game. Whereas he threw 105 pitches over seven innings in his first collegiate start against Temple on Tuesday, Streilein needed just three pitches to get the win today. In addition, Streilein has now stranded eight of the 11 runners he has inherited in relief (73.7%), including eight of the last nine.

Villanova is 5-7 (.417) in one-run games this season.

Junior Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) and sophomore Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) each registered their 15th stolen bases of the season in today's game, remaining tied for the team lead in the category. Arcadia actually was sent back to first base on two other stolen bases because a Villanova hitter was called out for batter's interference. The runner on base is forced to return to his base in that situation.

Cincinnati stranded 12 runners on base in the game, while the Wildcats left nine runners on. The Bearcats stranded eight runners through the first four innings alone but junior starting pitcher Jordan Ellis (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) was able to keep the game close by escaping jams with two runners on in the third and with the bases loaded in the fourth.

The stolen base for the Bearcats Tony Campana in the bottom of the seventh inning was his team-high 50th of the season. He has only been thrown out 10 times, although Villanova catcher Jim Gillin (Broomall, Pa.) threw him out in the series opener on Friday. Boomer Whiting (Louisville) and Campana rank first and second, respectively, in the BIG EAST and the entire nation in stolen bases.