PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. – The Villanova University baseball team fell to Monmouth, 11-6, on Wednesday (March 12) at Villanova Ballpark.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hawks (6-10) got on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the first inning by center fielder Trey Porter. Then, Monmouth tacked on two more runs in the top of the second, jumping out to a 3-0 lead.
The Wildcats (8-7) answered in the bottom of the third inning, using an RBI single by both
Austin Lemon and
Jason Neff to cut their deficit to one run.
Freshman
JP Podgorski held the Hawks scoreless for three full innings. When he exited in top of the sixth, Monmouth took advantage by scoring four runs off of a pair of two-RBI doubles. The run grew the Monmouth lead to 7-2.
Again, Villanova answered the Hawks' spurt. In the bottom of the sixth, the Wildcats walked two runs home and scored another after a groundout by
Connor Hale.
In the seventh and eighth innings, Monmouth added four runs to its lead, three of which were unearned. A pinch-hit RBI double by
Jake McElroy in the bottom of the eighth got one run back for the 'Cats, but ultimately the Hawks' 11-6 lead was insurmountable.
Monmouth's Joey Ciancimino (1-0) earned the win, while Villanova's starter
Graham Moore fell to 1-2 with the loss.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Lemon currently has an on-base streak of 15 games. With a two-hit game, his batting average improved to a team-best .352.
- Third baseman Michael Whooley improved his hitting streak to five games.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will host NJIT in a three-game series this weekend (March 14-16) at Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth. Friday's game will begin at 3 p.m., Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m., and first pitch on Sunday is scheduled for noon. All three games will be streamed live on FloSports.
