MERION STATION, Pa. – Taylor Boyd and Marc Giacalone notched three hits apiece as the Saint Joseph's baseball team stopped a three-game losing streak with an 8-3 win over Villanova at Smithson Field on Tuesday.
Saint Joseph's (7-9) opened an early lead in the bottom of the first as Giacalone led off with a single and advanced to third on a balk and a wild pitch. After John Brue was hit by a pitch, Matt Maul hit a fly ball to center that was dropped as Giacalone came home with the game's first run. Two batters later, Brian Lau hit a single to center that was then misplayed, allowing both Brue and Maul to score and extend the lead to 3-0.
Villanova (8-14) got one back in the second as John Heilenbach walked, went to third on a double by Zander Retamar, and scored on a single by Donovan May.
The Hawks added three more in the bottom half of the frame. Boyd led off with a single and stole second before Peter Sitaras reached on an error. Giacalone followed with an RBI single; Deon Stafford, Jr., then beat out an infield single of his own to load the bases. Two batters later, Maul hit into a fielder's choice that scored Sitaras, and Charlie Concannon followed with an RBI double to make it a 6-1 game.
SJU tacked on a pair in the fifth as Cal Jadacki hit a one-out home run and Sitaras walked, stole second, and scored on another single by Giacalone.
The Wildcats added singletons in both the sixth and the eighth. Kevin Jewitt led off the sixth with a walk and went to third on a single by Max Beermann. Nick Roth then induced a double play ball from Eric Lowe that allowed Jewitt to score and make it 8-2. In the eighth, Jewitt hit a solo home run to cut the deficit to five before the Wildcats loaded the bases with two outs. Justin Aungst then came on to get the final out of the eighth and finished off the ninth for his first save of the season.
Ryan Otero earned the win, allowing a run on three hits in two innings to improve to 1-3. Conor McCarthy took the loss to fall to 1-2; he was charged with six runs, only two of them earned, and allowed four hits in an inning-plus.
Saint Joseph's now heads to Richmond for a three-game set to kick off Atlantic 10 play. First pitch in the series opener is set for 3:00 p.m. on Thursday.
