Courtesy of GoXavier.com
Lowther took a perfect game into the ninth with XU clinging to a 2-0 lead, but was lifted for a reliever after throwing his 119th pitch and walking VU’s leadoff hitter. After two more walks, reliever Taylor Williams had the Musketeers just one out from a combined no-hitter before back-to-back singles sealed the comeback win for VU.
The Musketeers, 10-3 in their last 13, dropped to 17-13 overall and saw a four-game winning streak snapped. The Wildcats improved to 5-16 on the season.
XU AT THE PLATE
• The top five spots in the XU order went 0-for-18 in an uncharacteristic day for the offense. XU’s bottom four hitters posted a .429 batting average, however, providing both runs scored and all six of the Musketeers’ hits.
• After being held scoreless last week at Miami (OH), XU’s offense has churned out 56 runs on 59 hits in its last five games.
• XU saw a four-game streak with a homer come to an end.
• Will LaRue produced another multi-hit game, his fifth in six games, going 2-for-4 with a run and his 13th stolen base of the season. The junior left fielder is now hitting .348 (16-for-46) with a homer and six RBI in his last 14 games.
• Matt Fallon went 2-for-3, extending his team-high streak to 10 straight games reaching base.
• Sam Flamini (1-for-3, R) and Ethan Schmidt (1-for-4) also provided hits for XU.
• Chris Givin was hitless on the afternoon, but provided XU’s second run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
XU ON THE MOUND
• Junior lefty Zac Lowther posted one of the most dominant starts in XU history on Friday, finishing with a career-high 16 strikeouts and tying a career-high with eight innings pitched. Lowther left after 119 pitches in the ninth, walking the Villanova leadoff hitter — which ended his pursuit of the program’s first perfect game.
• In three career starts against Villanova, Lowther has gone 21.1 innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out 28 for a 1.28 ERA. He went eight innings and struck out eight in last season’s 1-0 win over the Wildcats, and also made his first career start (5 IP, 3 ER, 4 K) against VU as a freshman on April 17, 2015.
• It was Lowther’s third straight start with double-digit strikeouts. In his last 19.1 innings, Lowther has struck out 37.
• Lowther was just one strikeout away from the XU single game program record today. It was the most K’s by an XU pitcher since Bill Peters struck out 17 on April 20, 1997.
• Taylor Williams (2-1) took the loss, walking two and allowing two hits in the ninth. The sophomore righty had XU just one out away from a combined no-hitter before allowing back-to-back singles with the bases loaded.
HOW XU SCORED
• THIRD INNING: Will LaRue singled to the pitcher, stealing second and moving to third on a hit by Matt Fallon. He then came around to score on a wild pitch to give XU a 1-0 lead.
• SEVENTH INNING: Sam Flamini was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, moving to second on a single by Will LaRue. Matt Fallon then singled to load the bases for Chris Givin, who flied out to center to score Flamini and make it 2-0. With two on and two out, Villanova went to the bullpen and got a big out as Joe Gellenbeck grounded out to second to end the threat.
• Xavier continues the series on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Villanova Ballpark.
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