STORRS, Conn. – The Villanova baseball team closed out its 2026 season with a 9–6 victory over UConn on Saturday, May 16.
Senior Collin Quintano set the tone early, launching his 11th home run of the season in the first inning. After sophomore JoJo Montgomery reached with a single, Quintano followed in his next at-bat with a two-run blast to left-center, giving Villanova an early 2–0 advantage.
Junior Jake Francis backed it up on the mound, working through a scoreless bottom of the first to preserve the lead. After a quiet second inning for both sides, Villanova's offense struck again in the third.
Senior Michael Whooley sparked the frame with a two-out single, putting two runners aboard. Sophomore Austin Lemon capitalized, lining a two-out, two-strike double into the left-center gap to score both Quintano and Whooley and extend the Wildcats' lead.
UConn answered in the bottom half of the third, capitalizing on a two-out rally. A single and hit-by-pitch set the table before a bases-clearing double cut into the lead. The Huskies followed with an RBI triple, trimming Villanova's advantage to 4–3 after three innings.
Villanova responded immediately in the fourth. Senior Aidan Bary, after a hit-by-pitch, crushed a two-run home run to right field to push the lead back to three. Quintano then delivered again, ripping a two-run double to left field to bring his RBI total to four through just four innings and stretch the lead to 8–3.
UConn scratched across a run in the fifth on an RBI single, but Villanova responded in the sixth. Montgomery collected his third hit of the day with a double, later coming around to score on an RBI knock from Lemon, marking Lemon's third RBI of the afternoon and extending the lead to 9–4.
The Huskies added a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly after consecutive hits put runners in scoring position. Villanova limited further damage, holding a 9–5 lead entering the seventh.
UConn tacked on one final run in the last inning, but Villanova's pitching and defense held firm to close out the 9–6 win.
The Wildcats secured a season-ending road victory over their conference rival to cap the 2026 campaign on a high note.
