KISSIMMEE, Fla.—Sophomore left fielder Chris Rotondo (Redding, Conn.) flirted with a cycle and junior third baseman John Heilenbach (Western Springs, Ill.) hit his first collegiate home run as Villanova (0-1) opened the season with a 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh (1-0) at Osceola Heritage Park on Friday afternoon.  Rotondo singled, doubled and tripled while going 3-for-5 on the day and the Wildcats outhit their former BIG EAST rivals by a 7-6 margin despite the final outcome. 
 
Heilenbach hit a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence with one out in the top of the fourth inning to get Villanova on the board and answer a four-run frame by the Panthers in the bottom of the third.  He also walked and was hit by a pitch on a day when he and Rotondo combined to be on base six times.  Rotondo tripled to lead off the sixth inning and scored on an RBI single by senior designated hitter J.P. Radvany (Lawrenceville, N.J.) one out later. 
 
The game was a close one through the early and middle innings, with Pittsburgh leading 4-2 after six.  After the Wildcats got a runner into scoring position with one out but were unable to cut any further into the deficit in the top of the seventh, the Panthers plated three more runs without needing a hit in the bottom of the inning to likely put the game out of reach.    
 
Freshman catcher Will Reiner (Madison, Conn.) walked to open the top of the seventh and sophomore center fielder Sam Margulis (Pennington, N.J.) moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.  Reiner never advanced further than second base however, and the Panthers used five walks and a hit batter in the bottom half to extend their lead to the final five-run margin. 
 
Seven of the nine batters in Villanova's starting lineup reached base safely at least once, and the Wildcats had 10 different batters reach safely overall.  Junior right fielder Tyler Bruno (Breinigsville, Pa.) singled up the middle to start the game and freshman pinch hitter Nick Lorusso (Monroe, Conn.) reached on an infield hit to short while making his collegiate debut in the top of the eighth. 
 
Senior starting pitcher Jonathan Rosero (Middle Village, N.Y.) worked around a leadoff double in the bottom of the first inning and a one-out walk in the home half of the second to keep the game scoreless.  He struck out two batters in the first inning and later had two outs with nobody on in the third before Pittsburgh put together a four-run rally. 
 
Kyle Hess extended the third inning with a triple to the gap in left-center field and scored moments later on a passed ball.  A pair of walks followed and would have loaded the bases even if Hess had not already scored, while a double to left-center by Panthers catcher Cole MacLaren plated two more runs and made the score 3-0.  Alex Amos later walked with the bases loaded to force home the inning's fourth run. 
 
Rosero (0-1) was charged with four hits and four runs allowed in four-plus innings of work.  He walked eight and struck out three in his second straight opening day start.  He got some help from his defense to prevent Pittsburgh from doing any more damage in the fourth inning, then departed after issuing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth. 
 
Villanova threw out two runners trying to score in a strong defensive effort.  Nico Popa was at second base with one out in the fourth inning when Hess grounded out to first for the inning's second out.  Popa advanced to third on the play and then caught himself in a rundown between third base and home plate.  He was thrown out on a 3-2-5-1-6 putout.  Hess was at first base with two outs in the bottom of the sixth when David Yanni doubled to right field, but he [Hess] was thrown out trying to score on a 9-3-2 relay throw. 
 
Sophomore reliever Cameron Mathes (Broomall, Pa.) relieved Rosero with a runner at first and nobody out in the bottom of the fifth inning.  He walked the first two batters he faced to load the bases with still none out, but then bore down and escaped the inning with no damage one.  Mathes struck out Amos for the first out of the inning and then induced Chris Cappas into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.  Senior righty Jake Esp (Sugar Grove, Ill.) entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning.  He retired all five batters he faced to strand the bases loaded in the seventh and then work a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth. 
 
Dan Hammer (1-0) started and took the win for the Panthers.  He went the first 5 1/3 innings and was charged with two earned runs on four hits while striking out eight.  Two relievers combined to hold the Wildcats to three hits and three walks in 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. 
 
Villanova continues play in the Sunshine State Classic when it takes on Milwaukee on Saturday at 3 p.m.