MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team returned to action on Thursday, but fell to Villanova, 8-7, on a cold and blustery day at Smithson Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (5-3) took the lead early on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Cossetti.

• The visitors went ahead in the second on a two-run double by Chris Rotondo, and extended the lead to 3-1 on a triple by Ryan Toohers.

• Cossetti put the Hawks in front as his three-run home run to left made it a 4-3 game in the bottom of the fifth.

• Villanova (10-2) edged back in front in the sixth, but a sacrifice fly from Jake Artz tied the game at 5-5 in the sixth.

• A pair of bases-loaded walks in the seventh and a Toohers single in the eighth gave the visitors a three-run lead, but the Hawks rallied in the ninth.  Ryan Zimmerman and Nate Thomas started the inning with singles before Liam Bendo doubled two batters later to cut the deficit to two.

• After a pinch-hit walk by Travis Rinker loaded the bases, Artz drew a bases-loaded walk of his own to make it 8-7 and put the tying and winning runs in scoring position.  Unfortunately for the Crimson and Gray, Danny Wilkinson induced a pop-up to end the threat and end the ballgame.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Mike Schwartz earned the win for Villanova, tossing two shutout innings of relief.  Mike Falco allowed two runs in an inning and a third to take the loss for SJU, while Wilkinson earned his sixth save of the season.

• Ian McCole got the starting nod for the Hawks, allowing three earned runs in five and two-thirds innings while striking out seven.

• Both teams rapped out 13 hits on the day, with both Bendo and Adam Fine notching three apiece to lead the Hawks.  Cossetti drove in four runs on the day, while Artz scored two.  Fine earned his first collegiate hits in the game.

• Thursday's game was the first between Saint Joseph's and Villanova since the 2019 season.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two programs did not meet on the baseball field in 2020; it marked the first year without a game between the Hawks and Wildcats since 1953.

UP NEXT
The teams will resume the series on Friday afternoon at Villanova Ballpark.