TUCSON, Ariz.—Following a terrific start to his collegiate career during a truncated 2020 season, freshman Lucas Latrenta (Greenwich, Conn.) was named to the Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American team, powered by Diamond Sports, earlier this week.  Latrenta is the 10^th student-athlete from Villanova and the first in six years to earn freshman All-America accolades. 
 
In an unprecedented season that was halted after just 14 games, Latrenta batted .333 with a three home runs and a .595 slugging percentage.  He started 11 of the 12 games he appeared in and reached base safely at once in all 11 contests.  Latrenta was the Wildcats lone everyday player to bat over .300 on the year, while his three home runs were a team high and his .595 slugging percentage led all BIG EAST batters. 
 
After making his collegiate debut as a pinch hitter against Arizona State, Latrenta started for the first time on February 22 against Maine and went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in a 7-2 win.  In the first three games of the team's Spring Break trip to Florida, Latrenta showed off his potential by going 5-for-11 (.455) with four runs scored, six runs batted in, two home runs and a walk in games against Northeastern, Eastern Michigan and Saint Louis.  He was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week and the Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week on March 2 following the three-game binge. 
 
Latrenta had eight runs scored, 10 RBI and drew six walks while posting a .429 on-base percentage for the season.  Villanova was 9-5 on the year and on track for when of its strongest seasons in recent memory when the season was halted. 
 
The last freshman All-American from the Wildcats was infielder Todd Czinege, who earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors for the 2014 season.  Each of the previous nine Villanova players to be freshman All-Americans were also BIG EAST all-conference picks at least once during their careers, while seven of the nine went on to be MLB draft picks.