Brayden Leonard
Sideline Photos
7
Winner Villanova VU 21-24, 5-11 BIG EAST
5
St. John's SJ 25-21, 9-7 BIG EAST
Winner
Villanova VU
21-24, 5-11 BIG EAST
7
Final
5
St. John's SJ
25-21, 9-7 BIG EAST
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Villanova VU 0 0 2 2 0 3 0 0 0 7 9 1
St. John's SJ 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 8 0

W: McCollough, Luke (5-2) L: Burns (0-1) S: Sachais, Alec (5)

1
Villanova VU 21-25, 5-12 BIG EAST
15
Winner St. John's SJ 26-21, 10-7 BIG EAST
Villanova VU
21-25, 5-12 BIG EAST
1
Final
15
St. John's SJ
26-21, 10-7 BIG EAST
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Villanova VU 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 2
St. John's SJ 9 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 X 15 20 0

W: Frederick (4-2) L: Francis, Jake (5-4) S: Clark (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

‘Cats Split Doubleheader at St. John’s

QUEENS, N.Y. – The Villanova University baseball team split a doubleheader with St. John's on Saturday (May 10), winning the first game, 7-5, but falling in the second leg, 15-1, at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
 
Freshman Brayden Leonard tallied a combined three hits on the day, including two doubles in the second game of the day. Luke McCollough shined on the mound in the first game, throwing seven full innings with seven strikeouts. Despite giving up four runs (three earned) in the first two innings, McCollough blanked the Red Storm (26-21, 10-7 BIG EAST) over the next five innings and retired the last 10 batters he faced.
 
GAME ONE RECAP
The Wildcats (21-25, 5-12 BIG EAST) fell behind early in game one, surrendering four runs in the first two innings behind four hits by St. John's.
 
Backed by McCollough's strong pitching, Villanova began to claw its way back in the top of the third. After Trent Toole reached on a hit-by-pitch, Jason Neff drove him in from second on an RBI single. Then, Leonard skied a sacrifice fly into deep right field, scoring Tyler Shaw from third and slashing the 'Cats' deficit in half.
 
Just one inning later, right fielder Jake McElroy laced a leadoff single through the left side before JoJo Montgomery hit his first career home run the opposite way to tie the game at four runs apiece.
 
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Wildcats took firm control of the lead with a three-run sixth inning. Neff and Leonard drove in runs with a double and a single, respectively. Then, with the bases loaded, McElroy scored from third on a wild pitch, giving Villanova a 7-4 lead.
 
McCollough and closer Alec Sachais held on to the lead throughout the rest of the game, and despite allowing one run across in the ninth, Villanova won, 7-5.
 
McCollough improved to 5-2 with the win, while St. John's reliever Conor Burns fell to 0-1 with the loss. Sachais earned his sixth save of the season.
 
GAME TWO RECAP
St. John's scored nine runs on nine hits in the first inning of game two, establishing a lead it would not relinquish. The Red Storm pushed their lead to 14-0 by the top of the sixth inning, when Aidan Barry got Villanova on the board with a solo home run.
 
On the mound, relievers Stephen Turzai and Jack Chavez held St. John's scoreless over the last two and one-third innings, but the Wildcats were unable to mount a comeback, falling 15-1.
 
Starter Jake Francis fell to 5-4 with the loss, while St. John's starter Victor Frederick improved to 4-2 with the win. Brady Clark earned the save for the Johnnies, pitching three strong innings to close the game.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
  • Freshman Brayden Leonard is hitting a team-best .382 (26-for-68) in conference play.
  • Jason Neff's 62 RBI are tied for eighth most in Villanova history.
  • Neff's 20 multi-RBI games are the most for a Villanova player since at least 2015.
  • Michael Whooley extended his on-base streak to 26 games, surpassing Chris Rotondo's 2022 streak as the longest in program history since at least 2015.
 
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will face off with St. John's in a rubber match on Sunday (May 11) at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, N.Y. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
Print Friendly Version