PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa.  - With playoff implications on the line for both teams, Villanova defeated Rutgers, 5-4, on a bases loaded walk with one out in the 12th inning in a BIG EAST Baseball classic Friday afternoon at Villanova Ballpark.

The Scarlet Knights, who entered the day in a first-place tie with St. John's in the BIG EAST standings, dropped to second place in the league with the loss as the Red Storm defeated USF, 7-3 on Friday. The Scarlet Knights head into the final day of the regular season with a 19-7 league mark and 35-18 overall record, in second place in the conference a game ahead of third-place Louisville. The Wildcats secured a spot in next week's eight-team BIG EAST Tournament with the win, moving to 12-14 in the conference and 28-22 overall.

Senior reliever Chris Lillis (Fair Haven, N.J.) made his school-record 81st career appearance with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied at 4-4 and runners on first and second. The veteran reliever got the Scarlet Knights out of the jam with a fly out and an inning-ending groundout to force extra innings. After loading the bases with two outs in the 10th, he worked himself out of another jam, getting a comebacker to end the inning.

The Scarlet Knights threatened in the top of the 11th, putting a man in scoring position with two outs, but a hot-hitting Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, N.J.) lined out to the first baseman.

In the decisive 12th frame, Villanova put runners on first and second with one out. The Wildcats' Gus Guida hit a ball up the middle that Todd Frazier (Toms River, N.J.) scooped up at shortstop but in the exchange bobbled to allow Villanova to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Nova's James Cotter ran the count full against Lillis and fouled off two pitches before earning a walk to bring home the game-winning run.  

Rutgers had opened the game with two runs in the first on a two-run home run by Hill, who finished the day 4-for-5, also hitting a double. It was Hill's second home run in as many days and 10th of the season, tying him for 10th on the Rutgers single-season home run list. It was also his 22nd career home run, tying him with Val Majewski (2000-02) for eighth place on the career chart.    

Villanova cut the Rutgers lead in half with a run in the second when Dan Terpak singled to lead off the frame and James Dolbier followed with an RBI double to the gap in right-center field.

RU pushed its lead back to two runs when senior All-American candidate Dave Williams (Franklin, N.J.) lined a single to center field to score Frazier(leadoff walk) to make it 3-1 in the fifth.

In the Villanova seventh, the Wildcats loaded the bases with one out before Rutgers starter Casey Gaynor (Toms River, N.J.) induced a fly out to left for the second out of the inning. However, Villanova's next batter, Terpak singled to right field to bring home a pair of runs and tie the ball game. Junior reliever Matt Patterson (Passaic, N.J.) replaced Gaynor with runners on the corners and his third pitch was wild, allowing the go-ahead run to score.

The Scarlet Knights came right back asHill singled to leadoff the eighth, was sacrificed over and came around to score on a Tom Edwards (Caldwell, N.J.) opposite-field RBI single to left field off newly-inserted Josh Eidell.

Newly-inserted reliever Kevin Lillis (Fair Haven, N.J.) held the Wildcats at bay, striking out the side in the eighth to set up the extra-inning dramatics.  

Chris Lillis gave up just two hits and no earned runs with a pair of strikeouts three relief innings, suffering the tough loss to move to 3-4 on the year. Eidell pitched the final 4.2 innings for Villanova to earn the win and move to 3-3. Gaynor worked into the seventh with five strikeouts for RU, while his counterpart, Jordan Ellis, pitched into the eighth.

Frazier scored his 88th career run in league play to tie Brian Fili of Villanova (1994-97) for fourth place in BIG EAST history.

Rutgers and Villanova will close out the series with a noon game tomorrow. The contest will serve as the regular-season finale for both teams with sophomore righty Matt Giannini (Millington, N.J.) on the mound for the Scarlet Knights against junior righty Bill Hoffman for the Wildcats.