March 6, 2000
Box Score
Philadelphia, Pa.--- On Monday, March 6, the Villanova baseball team traveled into Philadelphia to La Salle University's Hank DeVincent Field and defeated the Explorers, 6-2, behind the bat of junior Dave Pizzini and the arm of fellow junior Aaron Krawiec. The Wildcats improve to 4-5 overall with the win, while La Salle falls to 0-3.
Villanova scored first in the second inning, putting two runs on the board to take an early 2-0 advantage. With one out, senior catcher John Picone hit a long drive to the center field fence that was dropped by Explorer centerfielder Mike Bell. Picone reached second base on the error and advanced to third one batter later on a single by freshman outfielder Chris Graziano. Brian Hearne reached on a fielder's choice on the following at-bat, scoring Picone with the first run of the game. Before the inning was over, the `Cats would score once more as Hearne came home on La Salle's second error of the inning.
In the top of the fourth inning, Villanova added to its lead. With two outs, Pizzini stepped up to the plate and blasted his first home run of the season over the right field wall to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
The Explorers finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning. With two outs, Steve Harris singled to begin a run of four straight La Salle hits. Mike Kelly doubled in Harris for the first their first run of the game. Jon Palumbo followed Kelly with an RBI-single to trim the Villanova lead to 3-2.
Two innings later, the Wildcats would strike again. With a runner on first and two outs, Picone stole second and scored as Hearne singled for his second RBI of the contest to increase the Villanova lead to 4-2.
La Salle looked to rally once again in the seventh, but Wildcat reliever Tom Kandybowicz proved too strong. After allowing two straight singles to lead off the inning, Kandybowicz settled down. He got the first out of the inning on a sacrifice bunt, and closed the door on the Explorers by striking out the final two batters of the inning.
Villanova put the game away in the eighth, scoring two more runs to take a 6-2 lead. The first of the `Cats' two runs came on a double by Picone. `Nova's final run came as pinch-hitter Nick Piantek hit a sacrifice fly to score Picone.
Closer Brian Manning came on for the Wildcats in the ninth inning, and sent La Salle down 1-2-3 to preserve the win.
Krawiec (2-1) pitched six innings to earn his second victory of the year. He surrended seven hits but gave up only two runs, striking out five and walking three. Pizzini went three-for-five at the plate, with one run and one RBI. Other Villanova stars included: Hearne (1-for-5, one run, two RBI), Chris McGratty (2-for-4, one run), and Picone (1-for-4, three runs, one RBI).
Taking the loss for La Salle was starter Paul Blasetti (0-1), who gave up two runs on two hits in two innings. Kelly led the Explorers at the plate going two-for-three with one RBI.
The Wildcats get back into action on Tuesday, March 7, hosting La Salle for their first home game of the season at Richie Ashburn Field at 3:00 p.m.
