Winter Haven, Fla. – Villanova baseball wraps up its trip to Florida this weekend with a three-game series against the Bucknell Bison at Chain of Lakes Stadium in Winter Haven. The Wildcats (5-5) are coming off a 2-2 showing at the Snowbird Classic.
The Wildcats ad Bison have a long series history, dating back to 1899. The Wildcats won the inaugural meeting 15-5 at the end of the 19
th century, and currently hold a 21-10 advantage in the all-time series. The teams have become more familiar of late, having met each of the last two years. The teams met at Bucknell last season and saw the Bison take the game 10-5.
The Bison are 3-8 this season as well, but do hold a 14-10 win over Virginia during four-game set with the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va. While the Bison offense has been solid, the pitching has been susceptible, posting a team ERA of 7.65, and has allowed 10+ runs five times.
That could play well for Villanova, who's bats got going this past weekend scoring at least three in each game and breaking out for 16 against Saint Louis. The Wildcats also hit four home runs during the Snowbird, two from
Lucas Latrenta and two from
Jeff Manto, after only hitting one in the first six games of the season.
The Villanova starting pitching was rock solid at the Snowbird with the starters combining for an ERA of 2.49 over 25.1 innings in the four games. Kingsbury, Graceffo and Siegenthaler all turned in quality starts during the weekend.
The series gets underway Friday at 2:30 p.m. when
Jimmy Kingsbury takes the mound against Bucknell's Jack Simpson.
Saturday's game is slated for 1:00 p.m. with
Gordon Graceffo facing Nate Girsius.
Sunday's game will be an early 10:30 a.m. first pitch.
