May 24, 2007

Box Score

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Just as it had in the previous meeting between the teams five days earlier, Rutgers (38-19) strung together rallies in consecutive innings to break open the game against Villanova (29-25). In Thursday's game on the third day of the BIG EAST Championship, the Scarlet Knights scored eight runs from the third through fifth innings and eliminated the Wildcats from the conference tournament with an 11-0 win at KeySpan Park.

Villanova ends the season with a 29-25 record and will see one of its most successful seasons in the last decade come to an end. The Wildcats qualified for the BIG EAST Championship for the first time since 1997 and finished in sixth place in the regular season standings. That performance marked a five-spot jump from where Villanova was picked to finish in the league and earned sixth-year head coach Joe Godri consideration for league Coach of the Year honors. In postseason action, the Wildcats defeated Notre Dame yesterday by a score of 3-2 to earn their first playoff win since May 15, 1997.

Thursday's game was scoreless until the top of the third inning as junior starting pitcher Bill Hoffman (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) kept Rutgers off balance with five strikeouts through the first 2 1/3 innings. However, with two on and two out in the top of the third a pop-up in shallow right field was affected by the wind and sun and fell in to allow both runners to score. Hoffman (4-8) wound up being charged with two earned runs (four total) in 3 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking two in his outing.

In the fourth inning, Mike Bionde singled home a run to chase Hoffman and Tom Edwards added a run-scoring single off sophomore Josh Eidell (Norristown, Pa.). The Scarlet Knights then erupted for four runs during a fifth-inning rally that included two home runs.

While Rutgers established its big lead, Scarlet Knight starting pitcher Matt Giannini (5-4) worked through jams in the early and middle innings, stranding all eight runners he allowed through the first six innings. The Wildcats did total 11 hits in the game but stranded 12 runners in the loss. Junior James Dolbier (Lebanon, N.J.) and sophomore Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) had two hits apiece for the Wildcats, who were shut out for the only time this season. Gianniny went the distance for the first complete-game shutout of his career. He allowed 11 hits while walking two and striking out six.

Todd Frazier had four hits for Rutgers, including a long home run over the scoreboard in left-center field and three doubles. He also stole a base, scored three runs and drove in two. Tom Edwards contributed three hits with two runs scored and two driven in. Frazier and Edwards accounted for two of the three home runs hit by the Scarlet Knights, who scored 24 runs in a three-game series at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth last weekend. Rutgers won two of those three games but the one win for the Wildcats - 5-4 in 12 innings in the middle game - clinched the team's entry into this week's championship.

Among the highlights of the 2007 season were a 6-1 win over nationally-ranked Alabama in the fourth game of the year and the team posting at least a .500 record for the fifth time in six years during Godri's tenure. Godri earned his 150th career victory against Saint Joseph's on April 24 and Villanova posted a double-digit win total in regular season BIG EAST games (12-15) for the first time since 2004.