MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team overcame a two-run deficit to force extra innings, but Villanova used a two-run home run from Kevin Jewitt to take a 6-5 victory over the Hawks at Smithson Field on Tuesday afternoon.
Saint Joseph's (20-26) scored in the first inning for the eighth consecutive game, taking a 1-0 lead on a two-out single by Stefan Kancylarz that brought home Matt Maul.
The Hawks doubled the lead in the third as Deon Stafford reached via catcher's interference for the second time in the game and came in to score on a double to the right field corner by Kancylarz.
Villanova (22-25) went ahead in the top of the fourth, taking advantage of four hits and a walk. B.J. Bochicchio doubled in a pair before Adam Goss hit a two-run single to give the Wildcats the lead.
SJU got one back in the bottom half of the fourth as Ryan Pater drew a four-pitch walk and scored on a double by Maul. Pater came through once again in the sixth, tripling home Charlie Coghlin to tie the game at 4-4.
The game remained tied until Max Beermann reached on an error to set up Jewitt's go-ahead longball. In the bottom of the inning, Cal Jadacki beat out an infield single, went to second on a groundout, and came in to score on a single by Pater, but Max Almonte locked down his second save of the season by inducing a fly ball to end the game.
Almonte saved the win for Kagan Richardson, who improved to 4-0 with two innings of one-hit ball. Steve Powles took the loss, falling to 0-2.
The Hawks wrap up the regular season this week with three games against Saint Louis. First pitch in the opener is set for 3:00 p.m. Thursday at Smithson Field.
