INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Villanova made their way to Indiana to face off with Butler in a BIG EAST three game series at Bulldog Park. Both teams combined to have 31 hits on the day with Villanova managing 14 hits of the total hits including two doubles, one triple and two homers to bring in 12 RBI to take the 13–9 win over the Bulldogs.
 
Freshman second baseman Michael Whooley had another exceptional day at the plate playing another crucial role on the 'Cats offense. M. Whooley flirted with the cycle on the outing going 3-for-5 with single, a double, and his first career triple to bring in a run and two RBI. Graduate shortstop Craig Larsen also had a strong day with three hits, three runs and three RBI. Senior first baseman Jack O'Reilly went 2-for-2 with a leadoff homerun in the top of the fourth, a sacrifice fly RBI with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth. Graduate catcher Will Reiner also crushed a homer to bring in two runs in the top of the fourth.
 
Junior pitcher Cade Udell has a standout day to start on the mound for the Wildcats tossing for the first 4.0 innings of the game. While on the rubber, Udell had a total of seven strikeouts to tie his season high and didn't allow a run in while issues two hits.
 
After a scoreless three innings on both sides, Villanova went on an offensive run to score four in the top of the fourth. O'Reilly crushed a leadoff homer over the center field wall to kick off the half inning. Larsen singled to the left side to get on followed by M. Whooley hitting an RBI double to bring Larsen in for another run. Reiner stepped up next and sent a two RBI dinger over the left field wall for the 4-0 lead.
 
The Bulldogs answered with one run in the bottom of the fifth off an RBI single by Joey Urban to trim the lead to a three-run game. Villanova added two more runs in the top of the sixth off back-to-back throwing errors to make it a 6-1 score.
 
A huge bottom of the sixth for the Bulldogs took the lead away from the Wildcats with Butler scoring seven runs to end the sixth. The Bulldogs hit four singles, one double, a triple and a sacrifice fly for a 8-6 result.
 
The Wildcats replied with a leadoff walk and two singles to lead the bases up for Larsen to score two on a single to the left side and advance to second on the throw to tie things up 8-8. Shane Solari clipped a sacrifice fly RBI to bring a O'Reilly home from third to reclaim the lead from Butler. M. Whooley followed Solari by smashing an RBI triple that bounced off the left field wall to bring Larsen in from second for the 10-8 lead.
 
Villanova tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the eight off back-to-back sacrifice flies by O'Reilly and Larsen to make it a 12-8 game. The Bulldogs trims the lead to 12-9 in the bottom of the inning with Urban singling up the middle.
 
The Wildcats added one last run on off a sacrifice fly to center field by Cooke to score Reiner and denied the Bulldogs a comeback opportunity ending the game with a double play and a 13-9 conference victory.
 
Head coach Kevin Mulvey commented on the strong outing by Udell on the mound and the resilience his team showed today to come back for the win.
 
"I thought Cade did a tremendous job to give us a quality outing and pitched really, really well. He got ahead, pitched to contact. If he was built up more, he would've went longer, but it is what it is. I'm very happy with his performance," said Mulvey. "I was very happy with the offensive performance. Coming back after a seven-run inning to score and take the lead again I thought was huge for us. It was a big momentum swing for us and hopefully we can take it into tomorrow and win the series."

UP NEXT: The 'Cats return to action tomorrow April 15 for a double header to conclude the series at Butler. First pitch is set for 12 pm with the second game to follow 30 minutes after.
 
 
Player Quotes
"I just kept trying to attack the hitters and make them earn it off of me. Reiner did a really good job behind the plate and helped me out a lot with some of the pitches. But overall, just a really great team win." #23 Cade Udell (Pitcher)
 
"Big W. It was probably one of the most packed games I've ever played, but the whole team stayed in it the whole game. We grinded out a W. They punched us, we punched them back. Overall great win. Got to get another two tomorrow." #13 Michael Whooley (Second Baseman)