ARLINGTON, Texas. – The Villanova baseball team dropped the opener of its three-game series to UT Arlington on Friday, March 27, falling 9-3 on Friday night at Clay Gould Ballpark.
FIRST INNING
Villanova put its leadoff hitter aboard to start the game, as sophomore
Austin Lemon drew a walk. However, the Wildcats couldn't capitalize. A diving play in right field robbed
Brayden Leonard of a potential hit, and back-to-back strikeouts from
Michael Whooley and
Collin Quintano ended the threat.
Senior
Bobby Finn got the start on the mound and delivered a strong opening frame. He struck out the first batter he faced and retired the side in order with a pair of popouts.
SECOND INNING
Carter Richey reached on an error with one out, and
Larry Hotaling followed with a walk to put two on. Still, Villanova was unable to bring either runner home.
UT Arlington loaded the bases in the bottom half on a walk, single, and another walk. The Mavericks plated the game's first run on a Villanova error, but Finn limited the damage with a strikeout and a key double play.
UTA led 1-0 after two.
THIRD INNING
Leonard extended his hitting streak with a single up the middle, and Quintano added a two-out single, but Villanova again left runners stranded.
UTA broke through offensively in the bottom half. After a leadoff double and a sacrifice bunt, Xavier Melendez launched a two-run home run to give the Mavericks a 3-0 lead.
Matthew Kahn entered and recorded the final two outs.
UTA led 3-0 after three.
FOURTH INNING
Mark Gialluisi recorded a two-out single, but Villanova couldn't convert.
Kahn was sharp on the mound, striking out three batters in the inning while working around a leadoff single to keep UT Arlington off the board.
FIFTH INNING
Whooley picked up a two-out single but was caught stealing to end the inning.
UTA added to its lead in the bottom half. After a leadoff double, McAfee delivered an RBI double with two outs to make it 4-0.
UTA led 4-0 after five.
SIXTH INNING
Villanova mounted its best rally of the night. Quintano walked, and Freitag singled to put two on with no outs. After two quick outs, Gialluisi delivered an RBI single to get the Wildcats on the board.
Jack Roventini followed with a run-scoring double to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Graham Moore entered in the bottom half and tossed a scoreless inning with a strikeout.
UTA led 4-2 after six.
SEVENTH INNING
Villanova went down in order in the top half.
In the bottom of the inning, UT Arlington responded. After a leadoff walk, Xander McAfee hit a two-run home run with two outs to extend the lead to 6-2.
EIGHTH INNING
Richey was hit by a pitch, and Gialluisi drew a walk, but Villanova stranded two runners.
UT Arlington broke the game open in the bottom half, scoring three runs on a pair of extra-base hits and a single to push the lead to 9-2.
NINTH INNING
Lemon led off with a single and later scored on a wild pitch to account for Villanova's final run.
The Wildcats couldn't rally further, falling 9-3 in the series opener.
NOTES
UP NEXT
Villanova remains in Arlington to continue the series on Saturday, with first pitch set for 3:00 p.m. ET.
