May 22, 2007
Box Score
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Both teams had no-hit bids into the eighth inning in a classic pitchers' duel in the opening game of the BIG EAST Championship on Tuesday morning at KeySpan Park. Sixth-seeded Villanova (28-24) stretched No. 3 seed Louisville (39-18) to the limit but wound up falling 3-1 on a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Wildcats will now play a potential elimination game on Wednesday at 10 a.m. against either No. 2 seed Rutgers or No. 7 seed Notre Dame.
Villanova found itself trailing 1-0 and being no-hit going to the ninth inning by Cardinals starter Zack Pitts and relievers Gavin Logsdon and Trystan Magnuson. Sophomore Matt McFolling (Chicago, Ill.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth and one out later junior Dan Terpak (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) singled to right-center field to drive in the tying run. It wound up being the lone hit of the game for the Wildcats.
Senior starting pitcher Mike Loree (Gillette, N.J.) retired the first 19 batters he faced and took a no-hitter into the bottom of the eighth inning before Louisville's Jorge Castillo singled to lead off the inning. After a sacrifice bunt Pete Rodriguez doubled to left field to score the first run of the game.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Logan Johnson singled with one out but was caught stealing on a throw to second by senior Jim Gillin (Broomall, Pa.). However, Daniel Burton reached on a single and Isaiah Howes followed with a two-run home run over the fence in left field that ended the game.
Loree went the distance and wound up allowing three earned runs on five hits. He walked none and had a season-high eight strikeouts in the game. Along the way, Loree set the Villanova single-season innings pitched record. He has now pitched 99.0 innings this season and surpassed the record of 95.1 innings pitched set by Rafael Novoa in 1989. Loree had already broken the career innings pitched record at both Villanova and for the BIG EAST Conference.
Cardinal starting pitcher Zack Pitts pitched 6 2/3 no-hit innings with two walks and five strikeouts. He left with runners at first and second in the seventh inning and Logsdon came in to retire all four batters he faced. The winning pitcher was Magnuson, who escaped a jam in the top of the ninth after allowing the game-tying single to Terpak.
The contest marked the second time this season that Loree and Pitts locked up in a pitchers duel. On March 24 at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth, the Wildcats came away with a 1-0 victory on an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Villanova left five runners on base, compared with just two stranded by the Cardinals.
