April 21, 2002
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, PA. - On Sunday, April 21, at Richie Ashburn Field, the Villanova baseball team withstood a late Boston College rally to win game three over the Eagles, 3-2. The win gave the Wildcats the series victory over Boston College two games to one. Villanova senior right-hander Bob Grzenda had a no-hitter through six and one-third innings before allowing a single up the middle to BC catcher Jeff Mackor with one out in the top of the seventh. Grzenda would end up allowing just two runs (one earned) on three hits in six and one-third innings against the top hitting team in the Big East to earn his fifth win of the season. The `Cats improve to 24-16 overall and 8-8 in conference play with the victory. The Eagles fall to 22-15 overall and 11-6 in Big East action.
The Wildcats got a key two-out RBI by shortstop Brian Trotta in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Villanova designated hitter Adrian Schau led off the inning with a walk and went to second on a single by third baseman Brendan Mannix. The next batter, leftfielder Alan Day, grounded into a 6-4-3 double play but Schau moved to third on the play. Trotta then followed with a triple over centerfielder Drew Locke's head to plate Schau with the game's first run.
One inning later, the Wildcats added to their lead. Catcher Greg Fater dropped down a bunt single to begin the inning for Villanova. After two straight strikeouts by BC left-hander Kevin Shepard, Wildcat first baseman Rob Cafiero doubled home Fater to give Villanova a 2-0 advantage.
On the mound for the Wildcats, Grzenda was painting the scoreboard with zeros, holding the Eagles hitless for the first six innings. He allowed walks in the second and fifth innings, but each time shut the Boston College offense down to end any scoring threat.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Villanova looked to add to its lead. Rightfielder Brian Hearne led off the inning with a bloop single to left-center. He advanced to second on a throwing error by Shepard on a failed pickoff attempt and went to third on a groundout to second by Cafiero. Schau extended the Wildcats' lead to 3-0, lofting a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Hearne.
Grzenda got BC first baseman Vinny Scavone to ground out to second base to begin the seventh inning. Mackor then singled up the middle on a 2-2 pitch to end Grzenda's no-hit bid. After Mackor advanced to second on a wild pitch, leftfielder Brian Durkin singled throught the left side to move him to third. The Eagles scored their first run of the game one batter later as a single by third baseman Jason Delaney scored Mackor to cut the Villanova lead to 3-1. Schau came in to relieve Grzenda with runners at the corners and one out. He struck out the first batter he faced, but was called for a balk to bring Durkin home and trim the margin to 3-2. Schau ended the rally, getting second baseman Josh DiScipio to groundout to end the inning.
With a runner at second and two outs in the top of the eighth inning, the Wildcats brought in closer James Russell to face Scavone. Russell struck out Scavone to end the threat and keep Villanova on top 3-2.
In the top of the ninth inning, Russell retired the first two batters of the inning on groundouts to shortstop. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Delaney swung at the first Russell offering and hit a blooper down the right-field line. Delaney rounded second and headed for third trying to stretch it into a triple. Hearne hit Trotta with the relay throw, who then sent a strike to Mannix at third base to get Delaney and end the game.
Grzenda improved to 5-2 overall with Sunday's win, and also upped his Big East record to 3-1 on the year. He struck out two and walked two in the contest. Shepard took the loss for the Eagles to fall to 3-2. He allowed three runs on five hits in nine innings, striking out seven and walking one.
Trotta went one-for-three with an RBI triple for the `Cats, while Cafiero had an RBI double in four at-bats. Schau knocked in what would end up being the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth. Centerfielder Chris Graziano went hitless in the game bringing his 14-game hitting streak to an end. Graziano made several spectacular defensive plays in the game, including a diving catch in the top of the eighth to save an extra-base hit.
For BC at the plate, Delaney went two-for-four with a double and an RBI.
Villanova will get back into action on Wednesday, April 24, hosting Drexel University for a single game at Richie Ashburn Field beginning at 3:00 p.m.
