Box Score

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Freshman left fielder Chris Rotondo (Redding, Conn.) had two hits and scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Villanova (4-7) twice rallied from two-run deficits to tally a 6-4 win over Bucknell (2-8) at Osceola County Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Senior starting pitcher Ryan Doty (Rye, N.Y.) pitched 6 2/3 innings for his second win of the season and the Wildcats snapped a seven-game losing streak with an inspired effort all-around.

Rotondo and senior center fielder David Gulati (Collegeville, Pa.) each went 2-for-4 at the top of the lineup and Villanova efficiently manufactured runs with its eight hits on the day. Trailing 4-2 when they came up in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Wildcats scored twice to tie the game and then took the only lead they would need with two more runs in the home half of the sixth. Sophomore third baseman John Heilenbach (Western Springs, Ill.) drove in the eventual game-winning run on a double to right-center and scored on a sacrifice fly to account for the game's final run.

Sophomore right fielder Tyler Bruno (Breinigsville, Pa.) led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple down the right field line and senior catcher Brandon Campos (Middletown, N.Y.) then set a tone for how Villanova would play the rest of the game. Campos bunted the first pitch he saw into no-man's land on the right side of the infield for an RBI single which brought home Bruno and cut the deficit to 4-3. Campos advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt, was safe at third on a well-executed delayed steal and then scampered home on a shallow foul out down the left field line by sophomore second baseman Timothy Lilly (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) which tied the game at 4-4.

Doty (2-2, 3.65 ERA) allowed a two-out single on a ball that glanced off the first base bag in the top of the sixth inning but then finished the frame with the last of his six strikeouts on the day. The offense got back at it in the bottom of the inning, as Rotondo led off with a single and moved to second on a groundout by sophomore first baseman Ryan Toohers (Florham Park, N.J.). Heilenbach was up next and quickly fell into an 0-2 hole before driving the third offering to him into the gap in right-center field for a go-ahead RBI.

It took all of the grit that the Wildcats have talked about all year long to preserve the 6-4 lead over the final three innings. Doty departed after a two-out walk in the seventh inning and was replaced by junior reliever Zach Lutner (Sicklerville, N.J.), who gave up a single that found a hole on the right side before inducing a fly ball to shallow center field to end the inning.

Lutner stayed in to begin the eighth inning and gave up a single and a walk with one out before junior Jason Applegate (Columbus, N.J.) recorded the final five outs for the save. Applegate won a nine-pitch battle with the first batter he faced and eventually got a called third strike against pinch hitter Evan Klugerman for the second out of the inning. Klugerman fouled off three straight 1-2 pitches and then worked the count full, but Applegate struck out both him and the next batter to strand the two inherited runners.

A leadoff single gave the Bison hope in the top of the ninth inning, but Luke Johnson lined into a double play on a ball hit to Heilenbach and there were just as quickly two outs and nobody on. Applegate struck out cleanup hitter JohnPaul Bell to end the game and give Villanova its first win since the opening weekend of the season.

Doty scattered eight hits and four runs over 6 2/3 innings, while walking two and striking out six. Bucknell got on the board first when Miles Moore hit a two-out, two-run double in the top of the first inning. That early 2-0 deficit for the Wildcats was erased in the bottom of the third inning on consecutive RBI singles by Gulati and Rotondo which evened the score at 2-2.

Bucknell went back in front in the top of the fourth however, as Moore singled and Tyler Wincig doubled just inside the third base bag on a ball that looked like it would go foul down the left field line. His hit instead put runners at second and third with nobody out, and consecutive sacrifice flies by the Bison restored their lead at 4-2.

All of the Villanova offense came against Bucknell starter Connor Van Hoose (1-3, 7.08), who was charged with six runs (five earned) while allowing seven hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts over seven innings.

The teams will be at it again on Sunday morning, as they play for a second time in an 11 a.m. start. The game will be the Wildcats finale in Florida before they head back to Philadelphia and get ready to begin the home portion of the 2018 schedule.