Box Score

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. -- Mickey Brodsky went 3-for-4 to lead the Big Red offense, but Cornell dropped a 6-3 decision to Villanova on Sunday afternoon at Plymouth Meeting, Pa. The Big Red fell to 1-6 on the year with the defeat, while the Wildcats improved to 5-9 on the year.

The Cornell offense collected just six hits on the day, but managed to string together three runs in the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead over the Wildcats. Phil Mullan opened the inning reaching on an error, then moved to second when Ryan Plantier was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Marshall Yanzick advanced both runners, and a single to first by Conor McCabe scored Mullan from third. Plantier then scored on a wild pitch, and McCabe came home on a single to left by Brenton Peters, but a stolen base and a lineout to pitcher ended the Big Red rally.

Villanova cut into the lead with a run in the fourth off of Cornell starter Jadd Schmeltzer, who pitched a strong game, allowing just one earned run in six innings, striking out six and scattering six hits. The Wildcats then tied the score in the sixth, capitalizing on a leadoff error and stringing together a single and a fielder's choice to knot the contest at three.

Rick Marks relieved Schmeltzer to start the seventh, and a hit-batsman followed by a pair of singles put the Wildcats ahead, 4-3, before Marks got a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to right-center to end the threat. Cornell could not respond in the seventh, going down in order, and Villanova tacked on another pair of runs in the eighth, one of them earned. All told on the day, the Big Red committed six errors, accounting for three unearned runs. 

The Big Red returns to action on March 19, opening up its spring break trip to North Carolina with a 1 p.m. contest against Radford in Radford, Va.