Michael Whooley extended his hitting streak to a career-best 11 games with a two-out double in the eighth inning on Friday afternoon. But that was about the only silver lining for Villanova, which fell flat against Xavier, 10-2, at Villanova Ballpark.
The Musketeers mashed. The Wildcats mashed… not so much.
Whooley’s streak, which began back on March 29 against LIU, now stands as the longest by any Wildcat this season. Meanwhile, Austin Lemon stayed hot with three hits and an RBI — his third multi-hit outing in the last five games.
But for most of the day, the story was all Xavier.
The Musketeers (22-18, 7-4 BIG EAST) opened with a sacrifice fly and a solo home run to jump out to a 2-0 lead before most fans had finished their coffee. Then came a fifth inning that played out like a nightmare: a five-run frame, punctuated by a three-run shot off the bat of Clay Burdette. Just like that, 7-0.
Two sac flies and a wild pitch added three more for Xavier, which carried a 10-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth.
That’s when Villanova finally stirred. A walk to Tyler Shaw. A double by Josue Valdez. A wild pitch. A groundout. Two runs. Some life. But not nearly enough.
Xavier starter Ben Weber scattered five hits over six shutout innings and improved to 4-2. Villanova’s Luke McCollough also left with a 4-2 record, but not with the result he wanted.
The loss knocked the Wildcats to the fifth spot in the BIG EAST - the top four clubs make the postseason conference tournament.
Villanova (19-16, 4-4 BIG EAST) will look to salvage the final game of the three-game set on Saturday.
Owen Petrich made history. The Hawks made a furious push. But Davidson made just enough outs to hang on.
On a wild Friday afternoon at Smithson Field, Saint Joseph’s came within one swing of a miraculous ninth-inning comeback — but fell just short, dropping an 11–10 heartbreaker to Davidson. The loss snapped the Hawks’ season-best seven-game winning streak, despite a record-tying performance from Petrich that would’ve stolen the spotlight on just about any other day.
All Petrich did was hit three home runs. That’s right — a solo shot in the fourth, another in the sixth, and a third in the eighth. He finished the day 3-for-4, scored three times, and drove in four runs. He became just the third Hawk in program history to hit three homers in one game, joining Deon Stafford Jr. (who did it twice in 2016) and Nate Thomas (2022).
And yet, it still wasn’t quite enough.
For five innings, it looked like Davidson was going to cruise. The Wildcats didn’t score until the third — and then they just kept scoring. Michael O’Shaughnessy broke the game open with a three-run double. Anthony Torreso followed with another double. Noah Jouras added an RBI single. Five runs later, Saint Joseph’s was in a hole. In the fourth, it got deeper — two more runs, courtesy of a double by Cider Canon (yes, real name), and suddenly it was 7–0.
That’s when Petrich woke up the crowd.
In the bottom of the fourth, he launched a solo homer to left. Then Blake Primrose followed with one of his own, back-to-back. In the sixth, Petrich struck again — solo blast No. 2 — cutting the lead to 7–3.
But Davidson kept applying pressure. Jouras drove in another in the seventh, and Torreso added a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the eighth. Saint Joseph’s was down, 9–4, heading to the bottom of the eighth.
Cue Petrich, again.
Joey Pagano drew a walk. Petrich stepped in and demolished his third homer of the day — a no-doubter to left. That made it 9–6.
Still, Davidson wasn’t done either. Eli Putnam ripped a two-run double in the top of the ninth to stretch the lead back to five. As it turned out, those were the two most important runs of the afternoon.
Because in the bottom of the ninth, Saint Joseph’s came out swinging.
Aidan Duda was hit by a pitch. Joey Gale reached on an error. Two outs later, Carson Applegate lined an RBI single to left to make it 11–7. And then Pagano stepped to the plate and delivered a thunderclap — a three-run homer to left-center. Suddenly, it was 11–10. The Hawks had the tying run in the batter’s box. But Davidson reliever Jacob Vokal got the final out to seal it.
The loss dropped Saint Joseph’s to 17–18 (11–6 Atlantic 10), even with Davidson in the league standings. Frank Ciccone took the loss, giving up seven runs in 3.1 innings. Isaac Fix picked up the win for Davidson, allowing three runs on five hits across six solid frames.
Tim Dickinson added two hits for the Hawks, while Pagano reached base twice, scored twice, and drove in three.
But the headline belonged to Petrich — three home runs, a spot in the record book, and a reminder that even in defeat, some days still shine.
On a wild Friday afternoon at Smithson Field, Saint Joseph’s came within one swing of a miraculous ninth-inning comeback — but fell just short, dropping an 11–10 heartbreaker to Davidson. The loss snapped the Hawks’ season-best seven-game winning streak, despite a record-tying performance from Petrich that would’ve stolen the spotlight on just about any other day.
All Petrich did was hit three home runs. That’s right — a solo shot in the fourth, another in the sixth, and a third in the eighth. He finished the day 3-for-4, scored three times, and drove in four runs. He became just the third Hawk in program history to hit three homers in one game, joining Deon Stafford Jr. (who did it twice in 2016) and Nate Thomas (2022).
And yet, it still wasn’t quite enough.
For five innings, it looked like Davidson was going to cruise. The Wildcats didn’t score until the third — and then they just kept scoring. Michael O’Shaughnessy broke the game open with a three-run double. Anthony Torreso followed with another double. Noah Jouras added an RBI single. Five runs later, Saint Joseph’s was in a hole. In the fourth, it got deeper — two more runs, courtesy of a double by Cider Canon (yes, real name), and suddenly it was 7–0.
That’s when Petrich woke up the crowd.
In the bottom of the fourth, he launched a solo homer to left. Then Blake Primrose followed with one of his own, back-to-back. In the sixth, Petrich struck again — solo blast No. 2 — cutting the lead to 7–3.
But Davidson kept applying pressure. Jouras drove in another in the seventh, and Torreso added a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the eighth. Saint Joseph’s was down, 9–4, heading to the bottom of the eighth.
Cue Petrich, again.
Joey Pagano drew a walk. Petrich stepped in and demolished his third homer of the day — a no-doubter to left. That made it 9–6.
Still, Davidson wasn’t done either. Eli Putnam ripped a two-run double in the top of the ninth to stretch the lead back to five. As it turned out, those were the two most important runs of the afternoon.
Because in the bottom of the ninth, Saint Joseph’s came out swinging.
Aidan Duda was hit by a pitch. Joey Gale reached on an error. Two outs later, Carson Applegate lined an RBI single to left to make it 11–7. And then Pagano stepped to the plate and delivered a thunderclap — a three-run homer to left-center. Suddenly, it was 11–10. The Hawks had the tying run in the batter’s box. But Davidson reliever Jacob Vokal got the final out to seal it.
The loss dropped Saint Joseph’s to 17–18 (11–6 Atlantic 10), even with Davidson in the league standings. Frank Ciccone took the loss, giving up seven runs in 3.1 innings. Isaac Fix picked up the win for Davidson, allowing three runs on five hits across six solid frames.
Tim Dickinson added two hits for the Hawks, while Pagano reached base twice, scored twice, and drove in three.
But the headline belonged to Petrich — three home runs, a spot in the record book, and a reminder that even in defeat, some days still shine.
