VILLANOVA, Pa. – After winning its first series of the season in dominating fashion, Villanova heads down to the First State on Tuesday for a Liberty Bell Classic showdown with Delaware State at 3 p.m. from the Bob Reed Field at DSU Downtown.
Over the winning weekend, Villanova (6-13-1) posted 36 total runs, setting a season-high not once but twice on the last two days with 14 and 15 runs on Saturday and Sunday respectively. The Wildcats also notched single-game highs with 16 hits, four doubles and 13 total bases on Saturday with 14 RBI, 14 walks and five hit by pitches on Sunday.
The Wildcats are in search of their first four-game winning streak since last season when they pieced together five straight victories late in the campaign.
This is just the second-ever meeting with Delaware State (6-10). The last meeting came on March 8, 2016 at Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth with the 'Cats winning 2-1.
The Liberty Bell Classic makes its return for the first time since the 2019 season after it was cancelled due to COVID in 2020 and was not played last season. The last appearance in the annual local tournament for Villanova saw the Wildcats go 1-1, winning the quarterfinal round over Penn, 5-4, before falling to Lafayette in the semifinals, 8-6. Since the event began in 1992, Villanova has gone 33-23 all-time with an 18-10 showing in quarterfinal contests.
Streaks on Streaks: With a 5-for-12 showing over the weekend,
Chris Rotondo extended his hitting streak to 19 consecutive games, matching the longest streak by a Wildcat since Jeremy Hunt's 19 game streak in 2006. Beyond that, he has been on base in 49 straight games since the 2020 season despite not recording a hit in this campaign's opener against Pepperdine when he did reach via a walk. This year, he co-leads the team with
Jack O'Reilly for multi-hit games, sitting at seven so far this season.
Bringing Men Across: The series win over Richmond saw the 'Cats tally 27 RBI in the final two games. Rotondo set a new season-high for the team with five on Saturday, one day after O'Reilly had four. The pair sit at the top of the team's RBI list this season with Rotondo leading the way with 21 while O'Reilly and
Cameron Hassert are tied for second with 16.
Dealing Ks: Villanova opened and closed the weekend with pitchers dealing double-digit strikeouts, tossing 11 on Friday and 10 on Sunday.
Brandon Siegenthaler dealt the most in the series with seven in the finale, throwing a season-high six innings with two earned runs allowed on eight hits and walking one.
Scouting the Hornets: Delaware State comes into the contest after splitting a four-game series with Maryland Eastern Shore over the weekend. The Hornets were outscored 10-32 in the series with 26 runs allowed in the two losses. The Hornets have one played a single mid-week game this season, defeating Delaware on March 8, 18-15. Alan Alonso leads the group with a .353 batting average and a 1.210 OPS, accounting for 17 RBI on 18 hits with a team-high six doubles and three triples. In 12.1 innings pitched, Pater Carreca has racked up a 2.92 ERA.
