Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Bob McCreary starred as an infielder and a pitcher for the Wildcats from 1986-89 during an extended period of success for the baseball program.  He graduated from Villanova in 1989 and was a 2006 inductee to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame.
 
McCreary played in 182 games during his collegiate career and was a .305 hitter with a .373 on-base percentage and a .409 slugging percentage.  He is one of 11 players in program history (through the end of the 2018 season) with at least 200 career hits (207) and he ranks among the Wildcats all-time statistical leaders in several offensive categories.
 
A four-year starter, McCreary totaled 138 runs scored and 121 runs batted to go along with 39 doubles, five triples, seven home runs and 26 stolen bases.  He hit over .300 in all four of his collegiate seasons, including a career year as a junior in 1988 when he batted .315 with 67 hits, 16 doubles and a .465 slugging percentage.  McCreary also appeared in 34 games with 15 starts as a pitcher for Villanova and logged 136 1/3 innings on the mound.  He earned eight victories and seven saves while striking out 91 batters.  McCreary was the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year in 1986 and went on to be a first team all-conference selection in both 1987 and 1988.
 
Villanova won its first-ever BIG EAST regular season title in 1988 when it went 32-22 overall and 16-2 in conference play.  The next season was one of the best in program history, as the Wildcats set a school record for wins during a 42-13 campaign.  Villanova captured the BIG EAST championship and went on to win three games in the NCAA East Regional, coming within one game reaching the College World Series before falling to Miami in a narrow 3-1 decision.  In all, the Wildcats were 130-73-1 (.640) during McCreary’s career.
 
McCreary was a 19^th round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins in 1989 and went on to play for five seasons in the team’s minor league system.  He appeared in 381 games in the pros, reaching as high as Double-A, and was a .258 batter with a .329 on-base percentage and 280 hits in more than 1,200 plate appearances.