INDIANAPOLIS – All nine starting Wildcats tallied at least one hit as the Villanova University baseball team took down Butler, 13-1, on Friday afternoon (April 11) at Bulldog Park.
Shortstop
Michael Whooley led the way at the plate with three hits, two of which were doubles. Whooley came around to score three times, tying a season high. Meanwhile, second baseman
Brayden Leonard and catcher
Jason Neff went 2-for-5 on the afternoon with three RBI each. Neff is now within one RBI of the BIG EAST lead, with 41 runs knocked in this season.
On the mound,
Luke McCollough turned in a dominant start, going seven full innings while only allowing four hits, one walk and one run. He struck out a career-high nine batters, tied for the most by any Villanova pitcher this season (
Bobby Olsen, March 14 vs. NJIT).
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless first two innings, the Wildcats (18-13, 3-1 BIG EAST) jumped out to a big lead with a five-run top of the third inning. A pair of hits by Lemon and Whooley left runners on second and third for Neff and Leonard, who each tallied an RBI ground out to put two runs on the board.
Then,
JoJo Montgomery reached on a throwing error by the Butler (X-X) third baseman, scoring
John Freitag. After
Tyler Shaw walked to put two on with two outs,
Connor Hale ripped a double into right field, bringing Villanova's lead to 5-0.
McCollough held the Bulldogs scoreless in the bottom half of the third, setting up the Wildcats for another big inning in the fourth. Freitag and Leonard each hit RBI singles to add two runs to the lead. Shaw then hit an RBI double into left center, scoring Freitag. Finally, to cap off the four-run inning, Leonard scored on a wild pitch, bringing VU's lead to 9-0.
In the top of the fifth inning, the 'Cats tacked on two more runs with RBI hits by Freitag and Leonard.
McCollough continued to roll through the Bulldog lineup, recording his career-high eighth strikeout in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Jack Moroknek eventually scored on McCollough in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a triple and later crossing home plate on a sacrifice fly. However, McCollough remained unphased as he shut out Butler over the rest of the sixth and then set the Bulldogs down 1-2-3 in the seventh to wrap up his stellar outing.
Neff hit a two-RBI single to increase the Villanova lead to 13-1 in the top of the eighth.
Freshman
Pat McKenzie closed the game on the mound for the Wildcats, striking out two and giving up only one hit to seal the 13-1 win.
McCollough improved to 4-1 on the season with the win, while Butler starter Andrew Hendrickx fell to 1-2 with the loss.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Jason Neff leads the Wildcats in both multi-hit games (13) and multi-RBI games (11).
- Michael Whooley has extended his hit streak to seven games. The Junior leads the Wildcats with 39 hits this season.
- Although he's only pitched 6.1 innings on the season, Pat McKenzie's opponent batting average of .171 is a team best. Over his last two outings, McKenzie has recorded 5.0 scoreless innings pitched, with only two hits and no walks allowed.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will take on Butler in game two of three on Saturday (April 12) at Bulldog Park. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on FloSports.
