Villanova, Pa. – This weekend, Villanova baseball takes its annual spring break trip to the Sunshine State, this time for seven games in 10 days. The Wildcats (3-3) will take on four different opponents at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte before moving inland to Winter Haven for a three-game series with Bucknell the following weekend.
Villanova opens things up on Friday with a 3:00 p.m. bout with Northeastern. The Huskies are 3-3 on the season as well, having been swept by Alabama and sweeping USF. Villanova is 4-5 all-time against Northeastern in a series dating back to 2008. The two also met last season at the Snowbird Classic, with Villanova coming away with a 5-2 win.
Friday's pitching matchup will likely be
Jimmy Kingsbury (1-1) against Northeastern's Kyle Murphy (1-1).
Saturday morning will feature the Wildcats against the Eastern Michigan Eagles. The Wildcats and Eagles have met just twice, and not since 2000. Villanova did win the last meeting between the two, taking the game 6-5 in Homestead, Fla. Eastern Michigan is 1-6 this year with the lone win coming on Opening Day against Austin Peay.
Gordon Graceffo (2-0) is expected to throw Saturday for 'Nova against the Eagles.
Sunday will be the first ever meeting between Villanova and the St. Louis Billikens. The Billikens are 5-2 this year, and after dropping their opener, rattled off five straight victories before falling at No. 2 Vanderbilt on Wednesday night.
Villanova will likely throw
Cole Vanderslice (0-0) again on Sunday after his strong outing against Purdue last week in his first career start. He will face off against SLU's Matt Boyer (2-0).
The Wildcats are given an off day on Monday before wrapping up the Snowbird Classic with a matchup against the Western Michigan Broncos. Villanova is 0-8 all-time against the Broncos. The team's have met at this event the past three seasons with WMU winning all three.
With the first mid-week matchup on the season on the horizon, Villanova's pitching depth will really be tested for the first time in the coming week. The staff has proven it can handle weekends so far, with a team ERA of 3.18. The bullpen has been even better, posting an ERA of 2.53. If you remove the five-run eighth inning against Purdue (the most recent inning), the bullpen had allowed just six hits and one earned run in 20.1 innings, good for a 0.45 ERA.
Weather Report:
The Sunshine State is forecasted to live up to its name with sunny days and highs from the mid-60s to low-70s through the weekend in Port Charlotte. It'll get a bit warmer during the week, peaking in the mid-80s before dropping back into the 70s in time for the following series with Bucknell.
