April 12, 2008

Box Score

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - Rallies by both teams in the late innings went the way of Notre Dame (20-9-1, 9-2 Big East) on Saturday afternoon at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth, where the Fighting Irish defeated Villanova (15-17, 4-7 Big East) by a score of 8-5. Nine of the combined 13 runs in the game were scored in the final three innings.

The Wildcats led 3-1 through the first six innings but Notre Dame surged ahead with five runs in the top of the seventh to stake claim to a 6-3 advantage. After Villanova battled back to pull within 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth, the Fighting Irish answered with two of their own in the top of the ninth to provide a big enough cushion.

Jeremy Barnes and Ross Brezovsky combined for five hits and six RBI to lead Notre Dame. Five of the six runs they drove in came on successive pitches in the top of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Barnes singled up the middle to tie plate two and tie the game at 3-3 and Brezovsky hit the next pitch over the fence in right-center field off of Wildcat sophomore Brian Streilein (Staten Island, N.Y.).

Streilein (2-3, 6.07 ERA) worked effectively to both sides of the plate and four of his six strikeouts came on called third strikes. After the Fighting Irish loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh inning on three straight singles - two that never left the infield - he struck out cleanup batter Evan Sharpley for the big first out. However, Barnes and Brezovsky picked up Sharpley with their consecutive hits and Notre Dame never looked back.

Junior Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) grounded out to drive in a run in the third inning and then tripled to score a run in the bottom of the fifth. He wound up scoring that inning on a single by senior Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) that put Villanova up 3-1 and also helped jumpstart a rally with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth.

The Fighting Irish turned to closer Kyle Weiland in the eighth inning but Shunk singled home Rosati and eventually scored himself on a wild pitch that trimmed the deficit to just one run. However, with the potential tying run at third with one out, Weiland got a strikeout and fly ball out to retire the side.

Shunk and had two hits and two RBI for the Wildcats and Rosati finished 1-for-4 with two runs scored and two driven in. Senior Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, NJ.) and junior Wesley Borden (State College, Pa.) also had two hits apiece for Villanova.

Wade Korpi went the first six innings for Notre Dame and managed a victory thanks to the rally in the seventh inning.

The teams meet on Sunday at 12:15 p..m. the final of the three-game series.