Jack McLinden, just moments after his fourth strong outing in as many starts this spring, had nothing but praise for the team he shutout late Tuesday afternoon.

“They have a real strong lineup. I know those guys well,” McLinden said after he helped the Wildcats to a 5-0 victory over a veteran Padua club on the Bruins' home field. “I definitely have a lot of respect for them. So I knew I had to come with a lot of focus today.”

McLinden, a 6-foot-5 senior right-hander, was focused, savvy and resilient as the Bucknell University recruit limited Padua to four hits though six innings. He stuck out five, walked two and hit a batter. Marques Pagan, a 6-4 junior right-hander, closed the book on McLinden's fourth victory of 2010 by throwing a hit-less bottom of the seventh.

“I was really happy today with being able to locate my pitches well,” McLinden said, after he improved to 12-0 in his varsity career. “That allows us to mix in different pitches in different situations. Whether it was getting ahead with the curveball or the cutter, that gave me a lot of options late in the counts. All of my stuff was working really well today, even mixing in a change-up a little bit.

“One through nine, they're a strong lineup and it really says a lot about our team to be able to come out here and shut them out," McLinden continued. "It was coach Donovan (pitching coach T.J. Donovan '94) working those counts. I really enjoy working with him.”

In a game that matched the 12th-ranked team in the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association's initial Division I state poll and the OHSBCA's 12th-ranked Division II team, the Wildcats (12-1) and the Bruins (11-3) went two scoreless innings before 'Cats senior left fielder Kevin Hopkins delivered an RBI single in the top of the third. Hopkins' hit scored senior center fielder Kory Gillissie, who walked with one out and stole second.

After McLinden pitched out of a first and second and one-out situation in the bottom of the third, Saint Ignatius senior third baseman Mike Burke led off the fourth with a single to left field and senior shortstop Dave Gallagher was hit by a pitch. Junior designated hitter Tyler Kette then laid down a bunt that was fielded by the Bruins' pitcher and thrown away in attempt to get Burke at third base. The error allowed both Burke and Gallagher to score.

The Wildcats completed their three-run fourth with a two-out RBI single through the left side by sophomore catcher Andrew Piscioneri.

“The coaches were talking to me about hitting a fastball because he (Bruins starter James Flowers) had a pretty good curveball, as you saw,” Piscioneri said. “I keep dropping my back shoulder a lot, but the coaches kept enforcing getting the ball on the ground. I finally got the ball on the ground and it found a spot. It's really amazing, playing JV sports and moving up to varsity. It's a totally different level and a totally different experience, and I'm glad to be a part of it.”

Following another gutsy inning by McLinden, Saint Ignatius scored its final run with one out and nobody on in the top of the seventh.

Hopkins drove a pitch to deep left-center field for a double, went to third on a pitch in the dirt and scored on a sharp single through the right side by junior first baseman Mike Horejsei. The Wildcats outhit the Bruins, 9-4.

“That's a quality win, a quality win,” said Saint Ignatius head coach Brad Ganor, who emphasized that there wasn't a hitter in Padua's lineup that he and his assistant coaches were comfortable with. “Jack just did another great job. He keeps pitching like a senior.

“We had a lot of guys thrown out today, caught stealing and trying to advance on reads with balls. But if we're going to say we're an aggressive team, then that stuff is going to happen.”

The Wildcats will get their practice work in on Wednesday and then it is another will-testing matchup on Thursday, when Saint Ignatius faces Twinsburg (12-2). The first pitch from Talty Field in the Brookside Reservation is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Twinsburg was ranked fifth in last week's initial OHSBCA Division I state poll.

“It just keeps coming,” Coach Ganor said of the 'Cats' demanding schedule. “When we set up a schedule, as tough as it is, it is to get ready for games in May. That's our main objective and I tell these guys, 'Great job today, it's behind us and now what can we work on for the next game to keep getting better?'”