VILLANOVA, Pa. – Xavier had a dominant day on offense taking the 14-1 victory over Villanova in game two of the BIG EAST series on Saturday afternoon at Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth. The Musketeers had an explosive offensive drive with 16 hits, three doubles, a triple, and three homers.

Freshman outfielder Aidan Barry, who stepped in as the designated hitter for game two, smashed an RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the fourth to equalize the score.


Neither team managed to rally a run for the first three innings of the game. The Musketeers struck first with a solo homer by Andrew Walker in the top of the fourth answered in the bottom of the inning by the 'Cats with Barry hitting an RBI double down the left line to make it a 1-1 game.
 
The Musketeers furthered their lead in the top of the fifth socring two unearned runs off a two RBI single by Grant Stephenson. Jack Housinger followed with a sacrifice fly RBI into center field to score Stephenson to take a 4-1 lead.
 
Xavier scored two more in the top of the sixth both off RBI doubles creating a five-run deficit for the 'Cats. The Musketeers were not done extending their lead to 8-1 in the top of the eighth with Housinger crushing a two RBI homer over the right field wall. Xavier topped off the considerable lead with six more runs in the top of the fifth with the Wildcats giving up a run scored on a single, a triple, and a home run to end the ball game 14-1.
 
The Villanova pitching staff struggled after the third inning with starting pitcher Devin Rivera's time on the mound ending in the fifth. The Wildcats offense also had difficulty getting a rally started leaving a total of eight runners left on base by the end of the game and only one run in via Barry's RBI double in the fourth. The Wildcats look to bounce back in the final game of the series tomorrow.

 
UP NEXT: The 'Cats return to action for the series finale versus Xavier on Sunday April 23. First pitch is set for 11 am. Streaming will be available on FloSports.