PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. – Chic DeGaetano threw a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings en route to a career-best 10 strikeouts to lead Villanova to a 4-0 shutout of Lafayette on Tuesday afternoon at Villanova Ballpark to secure a spot in the Liberty Bell Classic Championship.

Villanova (9-15-1) is now 11-7 all-time in semifinal round matches, moving its deficit in the local tournament games against Lafayette (10-21) to 4-3. The win sends the Wildcats back to the title game at Citizens Bank Park for the first time since April 15, 2015. This year's game is slated for Tuesday, April 19 with the opponent being the winner of the Rider-Delaware game set for April 6.

The junior pitcher has gone down as the winning pitcher in both of his last two outings on the mound to stand at 2-0 on the season. He allowed just one hit on the day and had a walk and faced the minimum in five innings, racking up five strikeouts alone in the first three innings, retiring all nine batters in order.

Will Reiner connected for a hit in all three of his plate appearances on that day with an RBI. AJ Hansen tallied two RBI in his 2-for-3 day with a run while Joey Castellanos was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs.
This was the first shutout victory for the team since it blanked Georgetown, 4-0, back on May 8, 2021.

Both sides went three up, three-down to open the game, but Villanova was able to get two on with a pair of singles in the bottom of the second with two outs. A fly out to center ended the scoring chance with the first runners of the day being stranded.

Villanova left another runner on base through the third who reached on a walk before the same happened to Lafayette in the top of the fourth with the lead-off man Justin Grech making it to second via a walk and a steal.
In the bottom of the fourth, AJ Hansen slammed a triple to left center to bring Joey Castellanos and John Whooley across after the pair opened the inning with back-to-back singles. A SAC hit shifted both runners into scoring position for Hansen. Hansen has delivered a team-high three triples now on the season, two of those bringing in at least one run.

Two batters later in the frame, Shane Solari added an RBI single to send Hansen home and make it a 3-0 lead for the 'Cats.

With an out on the board in the top of the sixth, Michael Mallas broke up DeGaetano's no-hitter with a double to left on the first pitch he faced in the at-bat. DeGaetano struck out the next batter but plunked Easton Brenner to put two Leopards on base. A groundout to second ended the threat, keeping the scoreless game intact.

Devin Rivera came in to pitch to open the eighth inning, closing the book on DeGaetano's day. Two of the first batters he faced reached on a single and a hit by pitch, but they were left standing on back-to-back fly outs.
Rivera closed his day with just one hit allowed in his two innings pitched, striking out one.

Castellanos blooped a single through the left side with an out on the board in the bottom of the eighth. Two batters later, Reiner sent a double deep into right center to drive in Castellanos, pushing the lead to 4-0. The Leopards went down in order in the ninth, the sixth time they had done so in the contest.

Evan Kiah and Mallas were the only Leopards to record hits on the day, netting a single and double, respectively. Joe Skapinetz went down with the loss, allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings, striking out just two.

Villanova is back at home again this weekend as it welcomes Butler to town for a three-game BIG EAST series. Game times are set for 3 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.