NEW ORLEANS, La.—Graduate center fielder Chris Rotondo (Redding, Conn.) extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 straight games and hit his fourth home run of the season in the second game of a three-game series at Tulane (13-7) on Saturday afternoon. There were several highlights on the day for Villanova (3-13) despite a 12-2 final score, as the Wildcats had runners on base in all but one inning and did not allow an earned run over the final 4 1/3 innings of the contest.
 
Rotondo carried the momentum of his hitting streak into the beginning of the game and scored each of the Villanova runs within the first three innings. The fifth-year Wildcats all-star is now batting .383 with a 1.143 OPS through the first 16 games of the season. He drew a leadoff walk to start the game in the first inning and later scored the game's first run on a two-out single through the right side by junior third baseman Jack O'Reilly (Villanova, Pa.). Two innings later, Rotondo led off in the top of the third and belted a 1-0 pitch 404 feet through the wind and over the right-center field fence. 
 
Villanova was in the game early, trailing 2-1 after one inning and 5-2 going to the bottom of the fourth. O'Reilly went 2-for-4 with a double and the first inning RBI to raise his season batting average to .262. It has already been a good weekend for O'Reilly, who is 5-for-8 at the plate through the first two games of the series after he went 3-for-4 on Friday night. Graduate second baseman Pat O'Neill (Eagleville, Pa.) was on base twice Saturday with a single and a hit by pitch, while graduate third baseman Joey Castellanos (Nutley, N.J.) and junior right fielder AJ Hansen (Collegeville, Pa.) also had hits.
 
The difference in the game came down to the second and fourth innings in which the Green Wave amassed most of their offense. After taking the lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning, Tulane stretched the margin to 5-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Leadoff hitter Ethan Groff had an RBI double with one out against graduate starting pitcher Tyler Arella (East Northport, N.Y.), who would also allow a sacrifice fly to Luis Aviles and a run-scoring single to Jackson Linn in the inning. The outing overall was a step forward for Arella, who stretched out to 3 1/3 innings and 71 pitches on the day. Both were season highs as the veteran lefty ramps up his workload for the season.
 
Later in the game the Green Wave scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to all put the game out of reach. Junior right-hander Chic DeGaetano (Sugarloaf, Pa.) relieved Arella with one out and a runner at second in the inning. Tulane eventually loaded the bases with one out, but DeGaetano made a big pitch on the inside corner for a called third strike with Brayden Morrow batting to get the second out. The strikeout nearly had the Wildcats out of the inning unscathed, but a walk to Seth Beckstead forced in a run and was followed by consecutive two-out hits that combined to score four more runs. A passed ball later in the inning while sophomore lefty Patrick Montfort (Morristown, Pa.) was pitching accounted for the final run of the frame.
 
Montfort, freshman Marcus LaBuda (Sugarloaf, Pa.) and junior Cole Vanderslice (Ocean City, N.J.) combined to pitch the final 4 1/3 innings without allowing an unearned run. Montfort finished the fourth inning and pitched scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth. He struck out three while allowing just a hit and a walk in his longest outing of the year. LaBuda recorded two outs and gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh inning before Vanderslice came on to pitch the final 1 1/3 innings. Vanderslice retired all four batters he faced and stranded three inherited runners in the seventh. He came on with the bases loaded and two away to face Chase Engelhard, who flied out to deep left field to end the inning.
 
Green Wave starting pitcher Dylan Carmouche (3-1, 4.71 ERA) pitched 6 2/3 innings to earn the win. He scattered five hits and the two early runs while walking two and striking out 10.
 
The teams meet again on Sunday afternoon to conclude this weekend's three-game series. Sunday's game begins at 2 p.m. Eastern time (1 p.m. Central) with junior right-hander Brandon Siegenthaler (Montvale, N.J.) in line to start for Villanova.