WALDORF, Md. – After entering the game in relief in the fifth inning, Danny Wilkinson proceeded to strikeout 12 Hoyas before Georgetown took the second game of the series in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth, falling 3-2 on Saturday.
Wilkinson set a new single-game high for Villanova (7-15-1, 0-2 BIG EAST) on the year with his 12 strikeouts, crushing his previous career-high of eight strikeouts at the Citadel on Feb. 25. In 4 1/3 innings pitched, he allowed one run on two hits, walking a pair of batters.
Facing a 2-2 tie for much of the game, it was Georgetown (18-9, 2-0 BIG EAST) who made the break in the bottom of the ninth with two outs on the board as Ubaldo Lopez sent a single into left driving pinch runner Keith Savoy toward home with the throw in being just late.
Joey Castellanos and Cameron Hassert drove in both runs for Villanova on 1-for-4 and 1-for-3 days, respectively.
It took Villanova three innings to record its first hit of the day, being retired in order through the first two innings.
The ‘Cats broke the scoreless stalemate in the fourth on back-to-back RBI knocks from Castellanos and Hassert. A double to left center put Jack O’Reilly at second. He was sent home on a Castellanos single to center to make it 1-0 with Castellanos advancing to second on the throw. Next up, Hassert sent a double off of the left field wall, bringing Castellanos across for a 2-0 lead.
Ubaldo Lopez sent a home run over the left center wall, bringing in two runs to tie the score, 2-2. After walking the next batter, Villanova made a call to the bullpen, bringing in Wilkinson and ending a 4 1/3 inning day Tyler Arella, allowing two runs on fives his with four strikeouts and three walks. Wilkson struck out two of the next three batters to close the inning and stop any further damage to be done.
The Villanova offense left a runner on in both of the next two innings while Wilkinson started to gas batters in the next three innings, striking out eight of the next nine batters he faced before heading into the decisive ninth.
Villanova was sent three up, three down in the top of the ninth, bringing Wilkinson and the defense back out. He struck out the first batter before Tony Barreca sent a double down the left field line. With Savoy coming in to pinch run, Wilkinson sat down his 12th Hoya before walking Jake Hyde, putting runners at first and second, paving the way for Lopez’s walk-off RBI single.
The series finale comes on Sunday at 1 p.m. featuring a pitching matchup of Brandon Siegenthaler against Andrew Williams.
