May 15, 2007

Box Score

AMBLER, Pa. - Junior Dan Terpak (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had four run-scoring singles and sophomore Wesley Borden (State College, Pa.) drove in four runs and hit his first collegiate home run as Villanova (27-21) cruised past Temple (17-35) 14-9 on Tuesday afternoon at Skip Wilson Field. It was the final non-conference game of the regular season for the Wildcats, who tuned up before hosting a critical conference series against Rutgers this weekend to wrap up the regular season.

Although an early 6-0 lead was trimmed to one run by a five-run Owls rally in the bottom of the third inning, Villanova got all five runs back in the top of the fourth and never looked back along the way to its second win over Temple this season.

Terpak was 4-for-4 with four runs batted in by the fifth inning and Borden hit a two-run home run in the top of the fourth to power the Wildcats offensive attack. All nine players in the starting lineup had at least one of the team's 15 hits. Juniors Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) and Gus Guida (Martinsville, N.J.) had one hit apiece to extend their respective hitting streaks to 13 games and 11 games. Terpak has also now hit safely in 11 straight games and raised his average to a season-high .318.

Villanova plated two runs in the top of the first inning and scored four more times in the second. Terpak drove in a run in each inning, while Borden had a two-run single in the second inning. Freshman Tommy Grandieri (Media, Pa.) had two hits and scored three runs and the Wildcats hald the Owls off the scoreboard for the final three innings after the Owls had closed to within 12-9.

Both teams used several pitchers to rest their staffs for league series this weekend. Junior Frank Jankowski (Berwick, Pa.) and freshman Brian Streilein (Staten Island, N.Y.) each worked a scoreless inning before Guida closed out the game in the ninth.

Stan Orzechowski and Sean Barksdale each had three hits for Temple and Dan Brady drove in four runs. The loss was charged to starter Kyle Monahan, who allowed two earned runs in the first inning. Villanova never surrendered the early lead along the way to its 14th win in the last 21 games.

The Wildcats host Rutgers in a three-game series from Thursday through Saturday to wrap up the regular season. Villanova needs one win to clinch one of the eight berths in the BIG EAST Tournament next week in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Wildcats have not qualified for the conference tournament since 1997. Game times for the Rutgers series will be 4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and Noon on Saturday.

NOTES: The 13-game hitting streak for Arcadia is the longest by a Wildcat hitter this season, surpassing the 12-game streak that junior Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) had in February and March ... The streak also extends a career-best mark for Arcadia ... Arcadia has reached base safely to lead off the first inning for Villanova in 10 of the last 11 games.