PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa.—Junior first baseman Ryan Toohers (Florham Park, N.J.) had two hits and senior designated hitter JP Radvany (Lawrenceville, N.J.) reached base twice as Villanova (3-12) opened its home season with a 5-1 loss to Navy (9-7) in the chilly confines of the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth on Tuesday afternoon.  Four pitchers for the Wildcats combined to limit the visiting Midshipmen to six hits on the day. 
 
Toohers singled up the middle and hit a long double to right-center for Villanova's only extra-base hit of the game.  Radvany singled, walked and scored the team's only run when the Wildcats grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.  Junior left fielder John Heilenbach (Western Springs, Ill.) singled to drive in Radvany, while sophomore center fielder Chris Rotondo (Redding, Conn.) and freshman third baseman Nick Lorusso (Monroe, Conn.) also had hits in the game. 
 
Navy answered the first run of the game with two runs of its own in the top of the third inning.  Villanova trailed the Midshipmen, 2-1, until Navy scored three more runs in the top of the sixth to close the scoring.  The breezy and cold afternoon – it was 41 degrees for first pitch at 3:30 p.m. – was not conducive for either team's offense.  There were just five hits total in the game from the fourth inning on. 
 
Radvany drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second and Toohers followed with a single to set the table for a run-scoring inning.  Sophomore second baseman Pat O'Neill (Eagleville, Pa.) sacrificed the runners to second and third with one away before Heilenbach took an 0-2 pitch the other way for an RBI single to right. 
 
Senior right-hander Zach Lutner (Sicklerville, N.J.) started for the Wildcats and was charged with an earned run on two hits over two-plus innings pitched.  He walked one, struck out two and departed after issuing a leadoff walk in the top of the third inning.  Fellow senior righty Jake Esp (Sugar Grove, Ill.) relieved Lutner and walked the first batter he faced.  A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third, while a two-run single to left put the Midshipmen ahead. 
 
Esp (0-2) went on to pitch three innings in the game, and retired seven of the nine batters he faced after Navy took the lead.  Senior righty Jason Applegate (Columbus, N.J.) entered the game to start the top of the seventh inning and went the rest of the day with just one hit allowed to go along with two walks and two strikeouts. 
 
Down four runs when it came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, Villanova put a pair of runners on base to start the inning when Radvany reached on an error and Toohers followed by driving a double over the shallow outfield defense.  Each of the next two batters hit fly balls to left that were caught in shallow enough territory to prevent Radvany from tagging up at third. 
 
Jackson Zoch (2-0, 1.80 ERA) struck out six over three-plus scoreless innings to earn the win for the Midshipmen, while Sante Grossi recorded the final three outs with two inherited runners on base to get the save. 
 
The teams will face each other again beginning at 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.  Wednesday's game was originally scheduled to be played in Annapolis but will instead take place back at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.