PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. – The Villanova Wildcats (19-12 overall, 7-10 BIG EAST) dropped game two of the three-game weekend series to the Connecticut Huskies (24-16 overall, 8-4 BIG EAST) despite two homeruns from
Chris Rotondo (Redding, Conn.). Prior to the game, the Wildcats celebrated the accomplishments of eleven graduating seniors that have been outstanding on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.
Following a quick first inning from
Tyler Arella (East Northport, N.Y.), Connecticut jumped on the board early in the second inning when Chris Brown singled through the left side to score two. Villanova would strike back in the third inning when
Cameron Hassert (Longmont, Colo.) reached on an infield single before
Chris Rotondo turned on a fastball and launched his sixth homerun of the season.
Nick Lorusso (Monroe, Conn.) and
Ryan Toohers (Florham Park, N.J.) would follow up the homerun with singles, but the Huskies escaped the inning without further damage.
Connecticut would add two more runs in the fourth inning and three in the sixth inning after Chris Brown and Chris Winkel smacked a homerun each. Villanova would cut into the deficit in the seventh inning when they executed two-out hitting.
Cameron Hassert sent a ground-rule double into the left center gap to end the afternoon for Huskies' starting pitcher Ben Casparius. Rotondo welcomed the new arm with a first pitch homerun off of the batter's eye in center field for his seventh big fly of the season.
Villanova southpaw
Tyler Arella (East Northport, N.Y.) suffered the loss on the afternoon after tossing 5.2 innings, six hits, and four earned runs. The Wildcats smacked 10 hits on the afternoon, with four batters tallying multi-hit afternoons.
Connecticut starting pitcher Ben Casparius hurled 6.2 innings while surrendering three earned runs and striking out seven. The Huskies were led offensively by Erik Stock tallying three more hits and improving to 7-8 at the plate this week. Chris Brown's two-run homerun gave him five runs batted in this weekend so far. Seven of the nine Connecticut runs were scored with two-outs.
The weekend rubber match will be capped off tomorrow, May 16. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 ET at Villanova Ballpark. Be sure to follow @VillanovaBaseball on Twitter and @VUBaseball on Instagram for updates throughout the season.
