Michael Whooley
Greg Carroccio/Sideline Photos
7
Winner UConn UCONN 30-18, 14-4 BIG EAST
5
Villanova VU 20-24, 4-11 BIG EAST
Winner
UConn UCONN
30-18, 14-4 BIG EAST
7
Final
5
Villanova VU
20-24, 4-11 BIG EAST
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
UConn UCONN 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 7 12 0
Villanova VU 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 5 11 1

W: Afthim, Brady (2-1) L: Sachais, Alec (4-6)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Villanova Drops Series Finale to UConn Despite Late Comeback

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. – The Villanova University baseball team managed to take the lead from UConn in the eighth inning, but ultimately fell to the Huskies, 7-5, on a rainy Sunday (May 4) afternoon at Villanova Ballpark.
 
Shortstop Michael Whooley led the way at the plate for the Wildcats (20-24, 4-11 BIG EAST), going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Catcher Jason Neff and second baseman Brayden Leonard also posted two hits on the day.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UConn (30-18, 14-4 BIG EAST) scored a run in the top of the first behind a pair of infield singles.
 
After both starting pitchers kept the two teams off the board throughout the middle innings, UConn used three hits in the top of the fifth to tack on three more runs and put the Huskies in front, 4-0.
 
The 'Cats answered UConn's spurt in the bottom half of the fifth. Austin Lemon singled to right center before Whooley drove a 3-2 out of the park down the left field line, cutting Villanova's deficit in half.
 
Then, as the rain began to pick up in the bottom of the sixth, an RBI double by JoJo Montgomery and a sacrifice squeeze bunt by Tyler Shaw tied the game at four runs each.
 
Both teams were held scoreless in the seventh before Villanova took the lead briefly in the eighth. Trent Toole battled through a six-minute weather delay amid a 12-pitch at-bat to draw a walk. Lemon was then hit by a pitch to move Toole to second. With two outs, Whooley singled into right field to score the go-ahead run and give Villanova a 5-4 lead.
 
The Huskies tallied three hits in the top of the ninth to score three runs and take a 7-5 lead, one that the Wildcats were not able to overcome despite putting two runners on base in the bottom of the final frame.
 
UConn reliever Brady Afthim earned the win and improved to 2-1, while Villanova reliever Alec Sachais fell to 4-6 with the loss.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
  • Jason Neff has a team-best 19 multi-hit games this season, nearly half of his 43 games played.
  • Michael Whooley is currently on a seven-game hitting streak. It is his third hitting streak of seven-or-more games this season. Whooley's active on-base streak of 24 games is a team- and career-best.
 
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will face St. John's next weekend (May 9-11) at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, N.Y. Friday's game will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
 
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