This past weekend, Villanova baseball traveled to Butler University for a three-game conference series and finished, 2-1.
The Wildcats (19-14, 4-2 Big East) lost game two to the Bulldogs (12-23, 1-5 Big East) 7-0, but won games one and three, 13-1 and 21-2, respectively. They now stand second in the Big East.
The 21-2 win against Butler on Sunday was baseball’s largest margin of victory since 2009.
“Had a great weekend,” head coach Kevin Mulvey said. “Even on a day we didn’t score any runs, we had 11 hits. I don’t know if I have ever seen a game where a team had that many hits without scoring a run.”
In game one on Friday, graduate Luke McCollough got the start. He went seven innings, striking out nine and allowing one run. Freshman Pat McKenzie pitched the final two innings, allowing no runs.
Villanova opened the scoring in the second inning with RBI groundouts by graduate Jason Neff and freshman Brayden Leonard.
In the third, senior Connor Hale brought in two more runs on a double. One more run came across on a Butler error.
Freshman John Freitag and Leonard added two more scores in the fourth on RBI singles, and graduate Tyler Shaw scored two on a double to make it 9-0.
“I don’t think any of our guys think of [Freitag and Leonard] as freshmen,” Mulvey said. “They’re brothers and a huge part of this team. John does a great job at controlling the zone; Leonard always comes up big for us in big spots.”
Freitag and Leonard brought in another two in the fifth, and Neff had a two-RBI single in the ninth. The Wildcats cruised to a 13-1 victory.
Game two on Saturday, however, did not go Villanova’s way. Sophomore Jake Francis took the hill to start, but lasted 3.1 innings and allowed four runs. The Wildcats used five pitchers, none of whom found much success, as they allowed seven runs combined.
Despite tallying 11 hits, the Wildcats couldn’t bring any runs across the plate. Freitag, with three hits, and freshman JoJo Montgomery, with two hits, led the offense.
In game three on Sunday, Butler jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. The Bulldogs held that advantage until the fourth, when the Wildcats scored their first runs of the game.
Villanova broke the game open in the fifth, scoring 12 runs to make it 16-2.
The Wildcats finished the win with a season-high 18 hits, including four extra-base hits and 19 RBIs. Leonard went 5-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs.
Neff hit a huge grand slam in the fourth for his 12th home run of the year. Junior Michael Whooley drove in four runs while recording three hits.
On the mound, graduate Alec Sachais picked up the win. He threw 4.2 innings, striking out seven and allowing no runs.
“We got to work on hitting the ball up the middle, throwing strikes, rinse and repeat,” Mulvey said.
Villanova will now host Xavier University (19-18, 5-4) for a three-game Big East series from April 17 to April 19 at Villanova Ballpark in Plymouth Meeting, PA.
