In baseball, there is a lot of preaching about the benefits of a “team philosophy,” doing the little things and building chemistry for the long season.

In the doubleheader against UConn last Saturday, Villanova did all of these things. Sacrifice bunts and two-out runs are key ingredients in using small ball to win a game. Then the pitcher goes and messes it all up with the second-best individual pitching accomplishment: a no-hitter.

Sophomore Kevin Mulvey drew the spotlight with a stellar performance, picking up ‘Nova’s second no-hitter of the season. It was an astonishing accomplishment, considering there hasn’t been a no-hitter on the Main Line in 43 years.

On Monday Mulvey, who pitched three scoreless innings in a 14-6 win over St. Joseph’s earlier in the week, was honored as the Louisville National Player of the Week and the Big East Player of the Week.

The right-hander dominated early and and closed out the Huskies in just over an hour and 15 minutes. In his last 10.2 innings, Mulvey has allowed just one hit and is 2-0 with a 4.01 ERA for the season.

Teammate Nick Allen also earned the Louisville National Player of the Week title earlier in the season after pitching a no-hitter against Norfolk State on February 26. It was the first no-hitter by Villanova pitching since 1962.

Both pitchers were featured in the most recent issue of Baseball America.

Although the team was supposed to return to action on Tuesday against St. Peter’s, a scheduling conflict caused the game to be cancelled.

On Wednesday, the ‘Cats defeated local-rival Penn, 3-1, at the Liberty Bell Classic. A low scoring game found the University down 1-0 going into the 7th, but an error provided the spark they needed to score three runs to steal the victory. They faced a scare when Penn rallied to load the bases in the 9th, until senior closer Mike Grodecki finished the game.

The win raises their record to 13-6-1 overall. The team resumes Big East play on Saturday in a double-header against Georgetown.