May 7, 2006

Box Score

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - Freshman pitcher Josh Eidell (Norristown, Pa.) retired the final eight batters he faced and shut down one of the most potent offensive teams in the Big East, leading the Wildcats to a 5-2 victory on Sunday afternoon. Villanova (26-21, 8-12 Big East) took two of three games in a weekend series from Cincinnati (30-18, 11-10) and remains in the race for one of eight spots in the Big East Championship later this month.

Eidell (2-3, 4.56 ERA) allowed just six hits in his longest outing of the season, permitting two earned runs and striking out six with one walk. Aside from a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning, he allowed no runners past second base and recorded half of his strikeouts over the final six hitters he faced. Sophomore Gus Guida (Martinsville, N.J.) worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his third save of the season, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

The pitching performances by Eidell and Guida today were backed up by timely hitting, as the Wildcats scored twice in the bottom of the fifth inning to take the lead and twice more an inning later to add insurance runs. Sophomore Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) led off the fifth inning with a walk, took second on a wild pitch and stole third base one out later. Senior Jeremy Hunt (Tampa, Fla.) singled to score Arcadia and then went to third on a single to the gap by sophomore Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.). Freshman Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) hit a sacrifice fly to score Hunt and give Villanova the lead for good.

The Wildcats had just five hits in the game but drew eight walks and one hit batsman. Throw in two sacrifice bunts, a pair of sacrifice flies and five stolen bases and Villanova's textbook base-to-base offense was in top form for the afternoon. Rosati was productive in all four of his plate appearances, with two sacrifice bunts, one sacrifice fly and a hit by pitch. Arcadia was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases, while senior Darren Griffith (Edison, N.J.) drew three walks, scored twice and stole two bases of his own.

Griffith walked to lead off the bottom of the third inning and senior Kris Molloy (Hillsborough, N.J.) bunted for a single. With Arcadia looking to lay down a bunt, the two runners executed a successful double steal, and Arcadia instead hit a sacrifice fly to score Griffith with the game's first run.

LaFringe Hayes got hold of a 1-0 pitch in the fifth inning and hit a two-run home run over the fence in right field to give the Bearcats a 2-1 lead, but Arcadia's walk leading off the bottom of the fifth started the pivotal Wildcat rally.

Cincinnati starter Kyle Rapp worked the first 3.2 innings, allowing only one hit and one run while walking five. Five relievers followed him, with Adam Calez (2-1) taking the loss. Calez pitched the fifth inning and allowed two runs on two hits with one walk. A.J. Upton pitched two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. Offensively, Mark Muscenti was 2-for-4 and Brian Szarmach scored a run for the Bearcats.

With six games remaining on the Big East schedule, Villanova currently stands in 10th place in the conference standings. However, just 2.5 games separate the teams in fourth through 10th place, giving the Wildcats a chance to move up during the final two weekends.

Villanova is idle during the week for final exams, but will travel to Kentucky next weekend to play a three-game series against another league newcomer, Louisville. The Wildcats and Cardinals will play on Friday and Saturday night at 6 p.m., with the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. Louisville took two out of three games from first place Notre Dame this weekend and will enter its series with Villanova tied for fourth place with an 11-10 league record.

NOTES: Hunt singled in the fifth inning to extend his career-best hitting streak to 12 games ... He has reached base safely in 26 straight games and 31 of his last 32 contests ... After starting the series by going 6-for-27 (.222) with runners in scoring position, the Wildcats were 3-for-5 (.600) in those situations in the final five innings on Sunday ... Shunk had been 0-for-10 on the weekend before his single in the fifth inning set up the eventual winning run to score ... Villanova held the Bearcats leading hitter, Logan Parker, to a .077 (1-for-13) batting average with no runs batted in for the series ... Eidell has a 3.72 ERA in six Big East starts, and is averaging better than six innings per start against conference foes ... The Wildcats have won a Big East series in three of the past four weekends and are 7-4 in the league since starting 1-8 ... Villanova has drawn 33 walks and struck out just 16 times in its last six games.