NEW YORK—Freshman third baseman Nick Lorusso (Monroe, Conn.) was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team in an announcement made by the league office on Wednesday afternoon.  The postseason major award winners and all-conference teams were voted on by the seven BIG EAST head coaches, who recognized Lorusso for his outstanding play both at the plate and on the mound.  This is the first time in 25 years that a Villanova player has been honored with a BIG EAST major postseason award. 
 
Lorusso emerged as the top hitter in the Wildcats lineup early in the season and went on to have one of the best rookie campaigns in recent program history.  He ended the regular season ranked 10^th in the BIG EAST and leading all league rookies in batting average, and he was also among the conference leaders in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.  Lorusso led Villanova in all three of those categories, as well as in hits and walks.  He was second on the team in home runs and runs batted in, and third in doubles and runs scored. 
 
All those superlatives added up to a .302/.408/.425 slash line for Lorusso, who played in 49 games and started all but two of those appearances.  He had 54 hits on the year, including 13 multi-hit games and five occasions on which he had three or more hits.  Lorusso's batting totals included eight doubles, one triple and four home runs to go along with 29 RBI, 26 runs scored and 28 walks.  One of the best indicators of the strong season Lorusso had was the consistency in his production.  He reached base safely at least once in each of the first 12 games of the season and in 42 of 49 games overall; he never went consecutive games the entire year in which he failed to get at least one hit or walk. 
 
The conference postseason awards are voted on based on statistics from regular season BIG EAST action, during which Lorusso maintained his high level of play.  He batted .290 (18-for-62) with a .371 on-base percentage while starting all of 17 of the team's BIG EAST games.  Lorusso's batting average against league pitching is the highest for a Villanova true freshman since 2005, and he led this year's team in batting during conference play by a margin of better than 50 points.  Lorusso was recognized during the season by twice being selected for the weekly BIG EAST Honor Roll.
 
In addition to his exploits at the plate, Lorusso was a steady member of the Wildcats pitching staff.  He made 16 appearances on the mound, including six starts, and collected a win and two saves while recording 32 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings pitched.  Lorusso was 1-1 with one save, a 4.71 ERA and 16 strikeouts over 21 innings during BIG EAST play. 
 
For the season, Lorusso's games played break down to 19 starts at third base, 15 at first base, seven as designated hitter and six as the starting pitcher.  He batted in the lineup and remained in the game as the designated hitter all six times that he began the game on the mound. 
 
While it is true that Lorusso built his Rookie of the Year campaign based on his steady level of play, two weekends from the season stick out as particularly noteworthy.  One of his best games of the year was on April 18 against St. John's when he started on the mound and pitched six scoreless innings against the preseason BIG EAST favorites, with the score knotted at 0-0 for the entire length of his pitching outing.  That changed in the top of the seventh when Lorusso doubled to start a three-run rally which sent Villanova on to a 5-1 victory.  He went 6-for-13 (.462) during the three-game series, homered in the second game and had a career-high four hits in the finale. 
 
Earlier in the season, Lorusso stood out for his production in a three-game series against ACC member Virginia.  Despite the Wildcats losing all three games, Lorusso delivered go-ahead RBI hits in each game of the series.  He opened the scoring in the first game with a run-scoring single, flipped a 2-1 deficit with a two-run double in the seventh inning of game two, and snapped a 1-all tie with his first collegiate home run in the final game.  Lorusso was 4-for-9 with four walks in the series. 
 
Villanova has had five players chosen as BIG EAST Rookie of the Year since the league began playing baseball in 1985.  Lorusso was preceded by Bob McCreary (1986); Gene Schall (1989); Steve Young (1993); and Trevor Pepkowski (1994).
 
Lorusso is the 13^th major award winner for the Wildcats in all, and the first since Pepkowski's rookie honor.  Villanova has also head four BIG EAST Player of the Year awards, two Pitcher of the Year honors and two Coach of the Year winners.