May 19, 2007

Box Score

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - On the final day of regular season games, Villanova (28-23, 12-15 Big East) was defeated 12-6 by Rutgers (36-18, 20-7 Big East) on Saturday afternoon at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth. The Wildcats finish in sixth place in the league standings and claimed the No. 6 seed in the BIG EAST Championship, which begins on Tuesday at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn, New York.

One day after clinching its first playoff berth in 10 years, Villanova learned that it would have been left out of the conference tournament had it not been for Friday's thrilling 5-4, 12-inning victory over the Scarlet Knights. The Wildcats finished half a game ahead of Notre Dame and Connecticut in the final league standings.

In Saturday's game, Villanova briefly led 2-1 after plating single runs in the second and third innings but Rutgers scored five times in the top of the fourth and added two runs in each of the next three innings to pull away to a big lead. The final three Wildcat runs scored in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Scarlet Knights wound up tied for first place in the BIG EAST and earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

Senior Jim Gillin (Broomall, Pa.), one of six players honored prior to the start of the game on Senior Day at the ballpark, scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game 1-1. He added a run-scoring double in the third inning and the game appeared headed for another close battle before Rutgers got its bats going and received some help from nine walks issued by Villanova.

On the mound, junior Bill Hoffman (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) was in control through the first two three innings, allowing just an unearned run while striking out three. He ran into trouble in the fourth, though, issuing two walks and allowing a pair of two-run singles to Donny Callahan and Todd Frazier. Ryan Hill added a sacrifice fly to complete the inning.

Six other Wildcat pitchers followed Hoffman as Villanova rested its pitching staff for the tournament next week. Freshman Kevin Crimmel (Harrisburg, Pa.), junior Gus Guida (Martinsville, N.J.) and senior Frank Jankowski (Berwick, Pa.) each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, freshman Colin Sabean (Belmont, Calif.) doubled and the Wildcats had three straight run-scoring singles with none out to trim the margin. The Scarlet Knights eventually got out of the inning when Kevin Lillis came on to retire all three batters he faced.

Gillin, junior Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) and sophomore Joe Cotter (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) all had two hits in the game for Villanova, with Shunk scoring a pair of runs and Gillin driving in two. The Wildcats had 12 hits for the second straight day despite coming up short in the runs column. Villanova had been held to just six hits in an 8-2 loss in the series opener on Thursday.

Villanova and Louisville will officially open the BIG EAST Tournament on Tuesday morning when they meet in the opening game at 10 a.m. from KeySpan Park. On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 seed Rutgers plays No. 7 seed Notre Dame 30 minutes following the Wildcats and Cardinals. The winners and losers of those games will meet each other on Wednesday. The losers of both games play at 10 a.m. Wednesday and the winners of each game play at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The conference tournament utilizes a double-elimination format.