Villanova’s final game of its spring break trip to Florida ended well, as the ‘Cats prevailed 14-3 over New York Tech (0-6). Villanova finished the Palm Beach Challenge with a winning record because of a win in their final game. The Wildcats scored eight runs in the first two innings in the win.

On the mound for ‘Nova was sophomore Chris Pack. He pitched six innings and gave up just one run. Pack now has a record of 2-1 with an ERA of just 1.15. He gave up a run in the first inning but from then on just surrendered just six hits. This was the second time in six days that he beat the Bears.

In their best offensive outing of the year, the ‘Cats standouts included senior Joe Rosati and sophomore Dain Hall, each accounting for four runs. A day after recording the team’s first individual three-hit game of the season, Hall went 4-for-4 and drove home three runs, while Rosati went 2-for-2 with a single, double and two walks.

In the first inning, Pack allowed a run off a single. In the fifth, an error led to unearned runs, but Pack wound up striking out four Tech players. Freshman Tom Tesauro, redshirt freshman Will Hebard and sophomore Mike Francisco each pitched scoreless innings in relief.

In the first inning, Villanova drew five of its eight walks, which included a pair with the bases loaded that forced home the first two runs in the inning. Redshirt freshman David Koczirka hit a two-run single to bring home the other two tallies.

In the second inning, the Wildcats garnered four straight run-scoring hits, starting with Hall’s second double and continuing with RBI singles by seniors Wes Borden and Kyle Carver and junior Justin Bencsko.

Two runs in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth rounded out the scoring for Villanova, which had six players with at least two runs batted in. Senior Joe Cotter from nearby Bryn Mawr, Pa. had two hits and two runs scored as just five players combined to score all 14 runs for the Wildcats.

In the fifth inning, Tech player Denton Neill hit a sacrifice fly and Effrey Valdez tripled to drive home a run. Valdez was 2-for-3 in the game. Starting pitcher John Eichhorn issued all five of the walks in the first inning and was charged with four earned runs in one-third of an inning to take the loss for the Bears.

Villanova finished the week in Palm Beach with a 4-3 record in their games at the Santaluces Sports Complex. The Wildcats ended with consecutive wins against Akron, as well as beating the New York Tech Bears.

The Wildcats look to continue improving their record with three home games this weekend. They will play Niagara tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. On Saturday, they host Cleveland State at 12:15 p.m. Sunday, they will host St. Peter’s at 12:15 p.m. All of their games will be played at Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

The three games are their last three home games on their non-conference schedule.