This past weekend, Villanova baseball traveled to the site of the College Baseball World Series in Omaha, NE, for a three-game conference series against Creighton University. The team dropped all three games.
“[Charles Schwab Field] was a beautiful surface and beautiful field to play on,” head coach Kevin Mulvey said. “It was a cool experience for our guys.”
The Wildcats (20-20, 4-8 Big East) were swept by the Blue Jays (28-12, 9-3 Big East), losing game one, 3-2, game two, 6-3, and game three, 12-3. They now stand sixth in the Big East.
Graduate pitcher Luke McCollough got the start in game one. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowing two runs and striking out five. In relief, graduate pitcher Alec Sachais came out of the bullpen and threw 5.1 innings, striking out five and allowing one run.
Creighton struck first on a sacrifice fly in the second inning to go up, 1-0. Villanova scored in the fourth on graduate catcher Jason Neff’s two-RBI double to take the lead, 2-1.
The Blue Jays tied it at two on a solo home run in the fourth.
The game stayed tied at two into extra innings. Creighton won via walk-off in the 12th inning on an RBI single to take the first game of the series, 3-2.
In game two, Villanova scored right away in the first inning on freshman infielder Brayden Leonard’s RBI groundout.
Sophomore pitcher Jake Francis started on the mound, allowing four runs. Freshman pitcher JD Podgorski took the mound in relief, allowing two runs, and graduate pitcher Stephen Turzai allowed no runs.
Creighton took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI double and an RBI triple.
A Leonard RBI single in the third and an RBI single from freshman Austin Lemon in the fourth allowed the Wildcats to regain the lead, 3-2.
The Bluejays went on to score four unanswered runs, and the Wildcats never crossed the plate again. Creighton took game two of the series, 6-3, over Villanova.
“The final score wasn’t what we wanted,” Mulvey said. “I was proud of the way our guys played. I wish the results were different.”
In game three, Creighton scored five runs in the first five innings before Villanova finally scored a run.
The seventh inning was the only inning in which Villanova scored any runs, scoring three runs on hits from senior catcher Josue Valdez and junior utility Collin Quintano.
Creighton scored seven more runs across the seventh and eighth innings to finish the sweep of the Wildcats with a final score of 12-3.
Villanova sent six pitchers to the mound, and none were able to effectively handle the Bluejays lineup. Senior starting pitcher Bobby Olsen picked up the loss, moving his record to 1-4 on the year.
“We are married to the process,” Mulvey said. “Results are short term. The process is lifelong.”
The Wildcats will travel to Saint Joseph’s University for a non-conference game on Tuesday, April 29.
Villanova will then host the University of Connecticut (26-17, 11-4 Big East) for a three-game conference series over the weekend from May 2 to May 4.
