May 6, 2007

Box Score

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - All day long every ball hit in the air was altered by strong winds blowing across the field from right to left, seemingly pushing routine fly balls down to the ground for hits. With two outs and the tying run at third base in the bottom of the ninth inning, junior Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) hit a sinking line drive to left field that looked like it would get knocked down by the wind. However, the ball stayed up just long enough for the left fielder to make a diving catch to end the game and Villanova (24-20, 9-12 Big East) was defeated 5-4 by West Virginia (25-18, 7-13 Big East) on Sunday afternoon at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.

There were quickly two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth inning but junior Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) was hit by a pitch and sophomore Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) advanced him to third with a single. Rosati stole second during Shunk's at-bat, a matchup that went full after Shunk battled out of a 1-and-2 hole.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Arcadia singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch, while Shunk hit a solo home run into the wind that bounced off the foul pole 330 feet from home plate. It was only the third home run hit in 20 games at their home field for the Wildcats.

Earlier in the game, Villanova pushed home single runs in each of the first two innings and led 2-1 from then through the end of the fifth inning. The game was moving along quickly in much the same fashion as the middle innings in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, when both teams swung early in the count and made quick, routine outs on pop-ups.

That changed in the sixth inning though, when Jordon Yost and Justin Parks had run-scoring singles to first tie the game and then give the Mountaineers their first lead of the game. The Wildcats needed four pitchers to get through a messy seventh inning, although they limited the damage done to two runs scored and stranded the bases loaded with West Virginia runners.

Junior Bill Hoffman (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) pitched 6.1 innings and allowed six hits, walking four and striking out four. He left with one out and two runners in scoring position in the seventh inning and freshman southpaw Tommy Grandieri (Media, Pa.) came in to strike out pinch hitter Mike Schmidt for the second out. After an intentional walk to Yost to set up a force play, the Mountaineers scored two runs on a catcher's interference call and a bases-loaded walk. Hoffman was charged with the loss but only three of the five runs on his account were earned.

Arcadia scored two runs for Villanova, as he and junior Gus Guida (Martinsville, N.J.) each extended their hitting streaks. Arcadia matched a career-high with a hit in his ninth straight game and Guida continued his career-best hitting streak at seven games. Rosati was had two hits and a stolen base in the game.

Sophomore Josh Eidell (Norristown, Pa.) pitched 2.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to finish things on the mound for the Wildcats, who wound up with an 8-7 edge in hits thanks to their late rally bid.

Parks and Austin Markel had two hits apiece for West Virginia, while freshman Chris Enourato recorded the final four outs for his fifth save of the season. Starting pitcher Kenny Durst allowed four earned runs on six hits in 7.1 innings, allowing six hits and striking out four with one walk to earn the victory.

Villanova won two of the three games during the weekend and hung on to seventh place in the BIG EAST standings despite the narrow defeat. Elsewhere in the league, Cincinnati was defeated by Rutgers and remained half a game behind the Wildcats. After the top four teams in the standings, the remaining eight teams are separated by just 4.5 games, including just three games of separation in the fifth through 10th positions.

Next up for Villanova is a three-game series at Georgetown next weekend. The series consists of a doubleheader (two nine-inning games) beginning on Saturday, May 12 at 4 p.m. and a single game on Sunday, May 13 at 1 p.m. The Wildcats did not face the Hoyas last season and won two of three from Georgetown in 2005. The series will be played at Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda, Md., the Hoyas off-campus home facility.

NOTES: Arcadia led off the home half of the first inning today with a walk and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly ... He drew a walk and scored a run in the bottom half of the first inning in all three games ... Rosati bunted for a single in the bottom of the first inning, his 11th bunt single in 16 tries on the year ... Shunk's home run in the eighth inning was the 199th hit of his career ... During the bottom of the eighth inning the Mountaineers used four different pitchers and Villanova used a pinch runner and three pinch hitters in a back-and-forth chess match between the two coaching staffs ... The Wildcats wound up using 18 different players in the game.