Bottom of the 3rd, McCollough on the mound for Villanova. 3B Luke Hanson leads off for the HOOS.
Hanson K’s swinging on three pitches. One down for RF James Nunnallee.
Nunnallee shoots a grounder up the middle. Shaw is able to scoop it on the move but the throw to 1st is offline, Nunnallee is safe. That’s his first hit as a Hoo. One on and one down for Becker.
Becker K’s swinging on a breaking ball in the dirt. One on and two down for Godbout.
Godbout on a full count works a walk. Two on and two down for Arroyo.
Arroyo on a full count also walks. Based loaded and two down for Ford.
Mound visit for Nova.
Ford grounds one to Shaw who tosses over to 2nd for the force out to end the inning. Another missed opportunity and Ford now 0-7 on the weekend.
Top of the 5th, Moore still on the mound for the HOOS. McElroy to lead off for Villanova.
McElroy lines out to Teel in CF. One down for Quintano.
I’m so proud of this white PBP guy for learning some spanish on Duolingo.
McElroy K’s (6) swinging on a pitch wayyyyy out of the zone. Two down for Hale.
Hale on the next pitch lays down a surprise bunt to the left side of the infield, but Moore calmly fields it and throws over to 1st for the out to end the frame.
Top of the 6th, Moore still on the mound for the HOOS. Leonard to lead off for Villanova.
Leonard chops one right up the middle. Godbout is able to range over to field it and make the throw across his body in time for the out, nice play. One down for Shaw.
Shaw is HBP. One on and one down for Lemon.
Lemon hits a sinking liner into CF. Teel goes into a dive but can’t make the catch, that’s the first hit for Villanova tonight. Two on and one down for Whooley.
Mound visit for UVA, Ference out to have a quick chat.
Whooley lines out sharply to Didawick in LCF. Two on and two down for Neff.
Another mound visit for UVA, BOC out for a chat. Pitching change incoming. RHP Drew Koenen enters the game for the HOOS.
Final line for Bryson Moore: 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K’s, 1 HBP, 62 total pitches. Great outing from him.
Neff on 0-2 flares a base hit to CF. Shaw scores from 2nd, game now tied at 1. Throw goes into 3rd, runner is safe there but then Neff gets caught trying to take 2nd and is thrown out retreating back to 1st. There will be a review though.
On replay I think he’s out, just don’t see enough to overturn this.
Call stands, runner is out and that ends the frame.
Bottom of the 6th, RHP Graham Moore takes over on the mound for Villanova. Didawick to lead off for the HOOS.
Didawick on a full count draws a walk. One on and nobody down for Teel.
Didawick on the next pitch is thrown out trying to steal 2nd. Nobody on and one down now for Teel.
Teel on a full count works a walk. One on and one down for Hanson.
Mound visit for Villanova. Pitching change incoming. RHP Brady Schwartzberg comes into the game for the Wildcats.
Schwartzberg looks to be a side winder.
Hanson K’s swinging to confinue his 0fer start to the season. One on and two down for Nunnallee.
Nunnallee pops one up in foul territory to the left of the 3rd base side, but the 3B Whooley overruns it. Nunnallee still alive, 0-2 count.
Teel on the next pitch steals 2nd. Runner on 2nd, two down for Nunnallee, 1-2 count.
Nunnallee shoots a base hit by Whooley at 3B and into LF. Teel scores without a throw, HOOS now lead 2-1. One on and two down for Becker.
Another mound visit for Nova. Another pitching change incoming. LHP Wyatt Wolpert takes over on the mound for the Wildcats.
Becker on the first pitch is plunked on the shirt. Two on and two down for Godbout.
Godbout lines a base hit into LF. Nunnallee scores from 2nd as the throw to the plate hits off him, which allows Godbout to take 2nd. 3-1 HOOS, 2nd and 3rd two down now for Arroyo.
Bottom of the 7th, Wolpert still on the mound for Villanova. Ford to lead off for the HOOS.
Ford on a full count flies out to Lemon in RCF. One down for Ference.
Ference on a full count works a walk. One on and one down for Didawick.
Mound visit for Nova. Pitching change incoming. RHP Jack Chavez takes over on the mound for the Wildcats.
This is three straight freshman relievers Villanova has gone to.
Dear god nothing grinds my gears more than when baseball commentators turn the broadcast into a fuckin podcast instead of talking about the game going on.
Didawick on the first pitch flies out to McElroy in deep LF just in front of the warning track. One on and two down for Teel.
Teel grounds out to Leonard at 2nd to end the inning.
Heading into the 8th, HOOS lead 3-1. Playing with fire again.
Top of the 9th, Lanzendorfer still on the mound for the HOOS. McElroy to lead off for Villanova.
McElroy lines a base hit into LCF. One on and nobody down for Quintano.
Quintano K’s (1) looking. One on and one down for PH Shane Solari.
Solari grounds one to Becker at short. He has a bit of trouble getting the ball out of his glove, force out is made at 2nd but the relay throw to 1st is not in time. One on and two down now for Leonard.
Leonard pops out to Becker in shallow LCF and that ends the game.
HOOS take it 3-1 for their first win of the season and improve to 1-1. Villanova falls to 1-1.
We’ll see you tomorrow for the final game of the Puerto Rico Challenge, 4PM EST against Rice.
A W is always better than an L, so good for us to hold on in the end, but man this game should not have been this close. Villanova is not a good team.
Pitching was fantastic, Moore with a great start and made a hell of a case for himself to stick on the weekend rotation when Blanco comes back. Also thought our bullpen looked strong, Koenen was a bit unlucky with the lone run we gave up as it was essentially a bloop shot into CF that found grass in an 0-2 count. Arroyo looked good, Jaxel was a bit shaky but then Lanzendorfer came in and shut the door. All in all I don’t remember a single hard hit ball from Nova tonight, it wasn’t a very good lineup we were facing and our arms more than did their job.
Now for the bats. Idk wtf is going on. Still far too early to panic but man we’ve had some rough approaches in the box to start this season. Just too many guys guessing way wrong on pitches, falling behind in counts far too often, and wayyyyy too many defensive swings, which is another sign that we’re getting fooled in there. Hanson in particular looked awful at the plate today, and the worst part is our guys are whining about borderline strike calls not going our way more often than we’re getting hits. Really need to regroup, I’m sure there’s another ass chewing waiting for them tonight in the dugout from KMac and BOC.
Still though, very high on this team and I would be shocked if things don’t turn around for the better sooner rather than later. There’s way too much talent in this lineup for us to not start raking at some point.