Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Villanova Career: One of the top centerfielders in the BIG EAST and an all-conference candidate entering the 2022 season … During the course of his collegiate career has steadily developed into one of the Wildcats top all-around players with outstanding on-base skills and power to all fields… Had a streak of 177 consecutive games started dating back to the 2018 season… Throughout his career he has started 165 of the team’s 177 games played, starting and playing every game from 2019-2022… Led Villanova in seven different offensive categories in 2022, including hits, RBIs, stolen bases, caught stealing, doubles, triples and home runs … Tied for first in school history with 15 career triples… Ranked 10 in school history for career doubles with 42 and career walks with 100… Ranked 12 in school history for career home runs with 20, career runs with 139, career total bases with 320, and hit by pitch with 29… Ranked 13 in school history with 31 stolen bases and 40 career stolen base attempts…Ranked 15 in school history with 77.5 career stolen base percentage… Ranked 17 in school history with 188 career hits… Possesses outstanding range in center field and has committed just nine errors in 410 career chances in the outfield … His career .978 fielding percentage consists of 388 putouts, 13 assists, nine errors… Overall he has played in 177 collegiate games with 165 starts and has a career slash line of .292/.498/.409 … Has 188 hits in 643 career at-bats with 139 runs scored, 90 runs batted in, 42 doubles, 15 triples and 20 home runs … Has drawn 100 walks and been hit by a pitch 29 times while striking out 166 times … Career totals include 31 stolen bases in 40 tries, two sacrifice bunts and three sacrifice flies … Named to the All-BIG EAST First Team and ABCA/Rawlings East All-Region Second Team as the 2022 season concluded… Named to the PhillySIDA Academic All-Area team at the end of 2022 season… Five-time BIG EAST weekly honoree during his career … Five-time selection to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team and six-time member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.
 
2022: Started all 49 games of the season in center field and was a power hitter who batted at the top of the order… Had his strongest season to date and slashed .359/.656/.475 while proving himself as one of the top all-around centerfielders in the BIG EAST… Led the team in doubles, triples, home runs, walks, stolen bases, runs scored, and runs batted in… Reached base safely at least once in 45 of his 49 games played, including each of the final 11 games of the season … Ended the year with an active 10-game hitting streak … Batted .359 (69-for-192) overall and his season totals included 59 runs scored and 37 runs batted in while hitting 15 doubles, three triples and 12 home runs … Drew 32 walks and was hit by a pitch 11 times … Stole 14 bases without being caught on 17 attempts … Struck out 39 times … Had two sacrifice bunts and three sacrifice flies… Named to the weekly BIG EAST Honor Roll on March 28 after he went 5-for-12 with two home runs, five runs scored, nine RBI, five walks, and a stolen base only striking out twice also going 7-7 on putouts in a three-game sweep of Richmond during the previous weekend… Had a season-high five RBI and clubbed two hits, three runs, three walks at the end of the series at Richmond on April 27… Had a season-high four hits at Saint Joseph’s on March 15 when he was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI… Tallied 18 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games on the year … Drew at least one walk in three consecutive games in a three-game series against Butler from April 8 through April 10…  Batted .345 (8-for-22) in six games with three walks, hit by three pitches… Had 120 putouts, six assists and five error in 131 chances in center field (.962 fielding percentage).
 
2021: Started all 35 games of the season in center field and batted in the leadoff spot in all but one contest (hit second in the order once) … Had his strongest season to date and slashed .272/.400/.566 while continuing to establish himself as one of the top all-around centerfielders in the BIG EAST … Led the team in doubles, triples, home runs, walks, runs scored and runs batted in … Ranked second on the team in stolen bases … Reached base safely at least once in 32 of his 35 games played, including each of the final 16 games of the season … Ended the year with an active 10-game hitting streak … Batted .272 (37-for-136) overall and his season totals included 34 runs scored and 23 runs batted in while hitting nine doubles, five triples and seven home runs … Drew 24 walks and was hit by a pitch five times … Stole seven bases without being caught … Struck out 41 times … Had two sacrifice bunts … Named to the weekly BIG EAST Honor Roll on March 22 after he went 4-for-8 with two triples, three runs scored, one RBI, a walk and a stolen base in a two-game sweep of Stony Brook during the previous weekend … Had a season-high three hits against Xavier on May 2 when he was 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, three runs scored and two RBI in a 12-5 win as the Wildcats clinched a series victory over the eventual BIG EAST runner-up … Went 4-for-12 with four runs scored, five RBI, a triple and two home runs in a three-game series against BIG EAST champion Connecticut … Had a season-high four RBI and clubbed two home runs in the middle game of that series … Tallied nine multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games on the year … Drove in three runs in all three games of a series sweep of Saint Joseph’s on April 1 and April 3 … Went 4-for-12 with nine RBI, four runs scored, a double, a triple and two home runs while also walking five times and being hit by a pitch once in the series … Drew at least one walk in seven consecutive games from April 23 through May 7 … In the seven games batted .391 (9-for-23) with eight walks, a hit by pitch and a .548 on-base percentage … Strong situational hitter who batted .325 with two outs and led the team with 12 two-out RBI … Batted .353 with runners in scoring position … Had 77 putouts and one error in 78 chances in center field (.987 fielding percentage).
 
2020: Batted leadoff and started in center field in all 14 games of the abbreviated season … Was a BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selection for the third time in his career … One of five players on the team who started every game … Slashed .298/.485/.447 and led the team in on-base percentage … Also posted team highs with 14 runs scored, two triples and 16 walks … Finished second on the team in batting average and was tied for second with three doubles and two stolen bases … Went 14-for-47 overall and had seven runs batted in … Recorded one sacrifice fly … Played flawless center field defense with 46 putouts, one assist and no errors … Tallied multi-hit games against Campbell, Northeastern, Western Michigan and Bucknell … Doubled twice, was hit by a pitch, stole a base and scored a season-high three runs against Bucknell … Walked a season-high three times against Maine and Northeastern … Went 2-for-5 with a triple, two runs and two RBI in a win over Campbell … Had a single, a walk and a run scored in a 2-1 upset win over No. 3 Arizona State … Recorded a career-high 10 putouts in center field against Bucknell and added another eight putouts versus the Bison two days later.
 
2019: Two-time BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selection … Only player on the team who appeared in and started all 51 games on the year … Started four games in left field and 47 in center while batting in each of the top six spots in the batting order … Batted .264/.368/.378 while ranking second on the team in batting average and slugging percentage, as well as third in on-base percentage … Went 53-of-201 at the plate while leading the team with 12 doubles and four triples … Hit one home run, scored 28 runs and had 15 runs batted in … Drew 23 walks and was tied for second on the team with 10 hit by pitch … Struck out 60 times … Had a team-high seven stolen bases in nine tries … Played excellent defense in the outfield with 109 putouts, five assists and two errors in 116 total chances (.983 fielding percentage) … Tied for the team lead with 14 multi-hit games … Reached base safely in 17 consecutive games from April 13-May 11 … Had a career-high four hits against Bucknell and tallied five other three-hit games … In a 16-3 win over St. Bonaventure went 3-for-7 with two doubles and three runs scored … Had three hits, including a triple, and drove in two runs against Chicago State … Went 3-for-4 with a season-high three RBI, a double, a walk, a stolen base and a run scored against Butler … Hit a solo home run and scored twice against St. John’s … Posted a team-high .375 on-base percentage during BIG EAST play … Recorded as many as five putouts in a game in the outfield on four occasions.
 
2018: Saw action in 28 games with 16 starts as a freshman … Batted .224/.284/.299 over 74 plate appearances … Went 15-for-67 at the plate with three doubles, a triple, four runs scored and eight runs batted in … Drew five walks, was hit by a pitch once and struck out 15 times … Stole one base in three tries and recorded one sacrifice fly … Played strong defense in the outfield with 36 putouts, one assist and one error (.974 fielding percentage) … Recorded consecutive multi-hit games against George Mason and Bucknell … Doubled, hit a sacrifice fly ad drove in a season-high two runs against Butler … Walked twice and drove in a run against Xavier.
 
Fairfield College Prep: Played center field on the baseball team and also was a guard on the freshman basketball team ... Was the baseball team's freshman MVP and went on to earn all-conference honors as a senior ... Selected to play in the Senior All-Star Game ... Batted .430 with two home runs and a team-high 25 runs batted in his senior year ... Member of the National Honors Society as a junior and a senior ... Achieved Magna Cum Laude status for his academic achievement all four years.
 
Personal: Born 6/15/99 in Bridgeport, Conn. ... Oldest of three children of Chris and Toni Rotondo... Has a younger sister, Molly (18), and a younger brother, Cooper (12) ... Hobbies include watching movies, playing basketball and spending time with friends ... Chose to attend Villanova because it was a prestigious school with an elite academic reputation ... Also noted the strong athletics program and the campus community as deciding factors ... Enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences ... Communication major.