April 6, 2010

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - In a first round game of the Liberty Bell Classic on Tuesday afternoon at Hank DeVincent Field, visiting Villanova defeated La Salle Baseball, 13-4. Despite the loss, two of the Explorers top hitters continued their streaks, and one moved into another all-time career category.

Brendan Norton, who went 3-for-3 with a double and triple, singled in the first frame to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. He then scored on a Jon Gyles RBI double to right center to give La Salle a 1-0 lead.

For Norton, who is batting .500 during his current streak (25-for-50), the game was his team-leading 14th multi-hit contest and his ninth in the last 13. The run also marked the 11th straight game he has crossed the plate.

In the second, Marc Schoch, who hit a lead-off single, scored an unearned run after Tony Negrin single and a wide throw allowed him to come home and put the Explorers up 2-1.

Villanova (18-7) responded with five in the top of the third and scored a run in every inning the rest of the way, except in the eighth, to take the game.

In the fifth, John Malloy hit his 48th career double into left center and scored when Norton connected on his fourth triple of the season, which ties him for the seventh-most in a single season at the school.

For Malloy, it extended his reached-base streak to 45 straight games, all 25 this season and 20 dating back to 2009. The run was the 122nd of his Blue and Gold career, tying him for the 10th spot in the school's record book, the sixth career category he has etched his name in.

Brian Meagher blasted his ninth career home run in the seventh, a solo shot to supply the Explorers with their fourth run of the game.

La Salle (8-17) will now host Temple in a second round game on Wednesday at Hank DeVincent Field starting at 3 PM.