May 17, 2008

Box Score

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - It was only fitting that on Senior Day at the ballpark the efforts of three seniors would help Villanova (28-25, 12-14 Big East) complete a wild rally for an 8-7 victory in 11 innings over St. John's (40-12, 19-7 Big East) in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.

In what had been scheduled to be a seven-inning opener to the twin-bill, the Wildcats scored seven runs in a dramatic rally in the bottom of the seventh inning to erase a 7-0 deficit. The game then moved into extra innings, where Villanova plated the game-winning and playoff clinching run with one out in the bottom of the 11th on a single to left-center field by Robert Parks (Brick, N.J.).

Senior Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.), who had singled in the seventh, ninth and 11th innings, led off the bottom of the 11th with a single to right field. One out later, senior James Dolbier (Lebanon, N.J.) worked a nine-pitch walk to move Shunk to second and Parks singled on a full count against Luis Monell (3-2, 5.31 ERA) to send a season-high crowd into a celebratory frenzy.

Those heroics in the bottom of the 11th inning wouldn't have happened without the big rally in the seventh or the relief pitching of junior Josh Eidell (Norristown, Pa.) that followed. Eidell (4-5, 4.75 ERA) pitched four scoreless innings from the eighth through the 11th, allowing just three harmless singles and striking out three without a walk. He threw 75 percent of his pitches for strikes and allowed only one runner as far as second base.

Red Storm starting pitcher George Brown began the day with a 9-0 record and cruised into the bottom of the seventh inning with a four-hit shutout and a seven-run lead. Freshman Dain Hall (Barrington, Ill.) drew a walk to start the seventh - just the ninth allowed by Brown in 85 2/3 innings this season - and the rally was on. Junior Kyle Carver (Aldan, Pa.) doubled and classmate Joe Rosati (Havertown, Pa.) singled to drive in the first run and chase Brown.

Relief pitcher Miguel Valcarcel was greeted by a run-scoring single from junior Joe Cotter (Yardley, Pa.) that made the score 7-2 but he then induced a fly ball by senior Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) for the first out of the inning. Shunk doubled to make the score 7-3 and senior Dan Terpak (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) walked to load the bases.

At that point, St. John's turned to closer Colin Lynch, who came in and struck out Dolbier for the second out. He then walked junior Wesley Borden (State College, Pa.) to force in the fourth run and pinch hitter Matt McFolling (Chicago, Ill.) delivered a two-run single to make the score 7-6 and send pinch runner Justin Bencsko (Pompton Plains, N.J.) to third base. Bencsko's ability to go from first to third on McFolling's hit to right proved key moments later when Lynch balked to force in the tying run. Carver then flied out to end the inning and set up the remaining heroics to come.

Villanova left the bases loaded in the ninth inning after starting the frame on a single by Shunk but made good on their next rally opportunity in the bottom of the 11th. Shunk had three hits and raised his average for the season to .359 while Cotter and Dolbier had two hits apiece.

After allowing the Red Storm to score six runs in the top of the second inning and more in the top of the third, Wildcat pitching retired 19 of 20 St. John's hitters from the end of the third through the end of the ninth innings. Sophomore Kevin Crimmel (Harrisburg, Pa.) and junior Michael Mayer (Midland Park, N.J.) each pitched two scoreless innings to get the game to Eidell in the eighth.

Gil Zayas and Daniel Benedetti each drove in two runs for the Red Storm, who batted around in the top of the second inning to quickly break the game open. St. John's wound up with 11 hits in the game, including a run-scoring double by Carlos Del Rosario for the team's only extra-base hit of the contest. The Red Storm had nine extra-base hits in Thursday's 16-2 victory over Villanova.

The Wildcats began the day needing either one win or one loss by Connecticut to clinch a return trip to the eight-team Big East tournament. There was plenty of scoreboard watching during the game on Saturday and the big rally in the seventh inning coincided with the Huskies finishing off a come-from-behind 6-5 rally over Pittsburgh. Connecticut took the second game of a doubleheader from the Panthers as well, 8-5, meaning that Villanova would have been left out of the playoffs had it not beatedn St. John's at least once in Saturday's twin-bill.

The scores of all the games around the league on Saturday finalized the playoff picture and seeds. The Wildcats are the No. 8 seed in the tournament and will play the top-seeded Red Storm on Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the fourth consecutive meeting between the teams. A full recap of the second game of Saturday's doubleheader and an announcement of the Big East Championship bracket will be available on www.villanova.com later Saturday night.