Oct. 9, 2009

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - For the second time in as many games in the annual Blue-Gray October Classic, the winning run was pushed across in walk-off fashion and the Blue Team evened Villanova's intra-squad series at 1-1 with a 5-4 victory on Thursday afternoon at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.

Justin Bencsko singled home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Anthony Porcelli and complete a three-run rally for his team in the last two innings. Porcelli singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh, took second on a wild pitch and scored ahead of the throw to the plate by center fielder Paul Rambaud.

The Blue Team tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and then escaped a potential jam in the top of the seventh with closer Mike Francisco on the mound. The Gray Team had a runner at first with two outs but Marlon Calbi was caught stealing by Niko Gomez to end the threat.

Matt Fleishman lined a two-run triple down the right field line to bring in the tying runs for the Blue Team, which trailed 4-2 entering the frame. Dain Hall and David Koczirka reached base safely to start the inning. With one out, Fleishman missed a sacrifice bunt attempt but made up for it with a big hit instead. He was at third with one out but Gray Team closer Kyle McMyne struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning. The sixth inning was the third time in the game that the Blue Team did not score a runner from third base with less than two outs.

Already down 1-0 in the series after a 4-3 loss in Tuesday's series opener, the Blue Team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but was unable to expand the lead with key hits in situational RBI spots. The Gray Team eventually capitalized on three errors in the top of the sixth inning and plated three runs without a hit to take a 4-2 lead with the Blue Team down to its last two at-bats.

Francisco got the win for the Blue Team, while McMyne took the loss in 1 1/3 innings of relief. The pitchers from both teams combined to strike out 19 hitters on the afternoon, though it was Francisco and McMyne figuring into the decisions for the second straight game.

On the hitting side, Kevin Wager (Gray) and Mike Rzezsut (Blue) each added their fourth hits of the series and the teams combined for 15 hits and five stolen bases. There have been a total of 11 stolen bases through the first two games of the series.

Seven of the 10 hitters for the Blue Team had a hit in Thursday afternoon's game, including Daniel Parham notching his second extra-base hit of the series with a triple in the third inning.

This is the second straight year that the third game will decide the series champion. Game 3 gets underway at 2:50 p.m. on Friday afternoon and will be a six-inning affair pitting southpaw Kevin Crimmel (Blue) against Gray Team right-hander Tom Tesauro.