PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Villanova built an early lead and played tack-on through the middle innings to down the St. Bonaventure baseball team on its Opening Day, 16-3, Saturday afternoon at the Snowbird Classic.
Villanova earned its first win of the year (1-7), but had already played seven games since the start of the season.
While the Bonnies kept things scoreless through the first two innings, the difference in time playing outside this spring began to show.
The Wildcats got their scoring started in the third inning as a pair of RBI singles gave Nova a 3-0 advantage.
From there, Villanova continued to build its lead with a run in the fourth and three more in the sixth.
Tyler Kelder brought home the first runs of the game for the Bonnies with a two-run blast to left in the sixth, but three runs in the eighth and six more in the ninth blew things open for the Wildcats.
Kelder also plated a run with a hit in the eighth and finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs on the day.
Senior Ben Contento got the start and struck out six batters in three innings of work, allowing two earned runs on three hits.
Elijah Baez (1.0 IP, 1 H) and Donovan Moffat (2.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K) each had scoreless frames out of the bullpen.
Alex Schutz doubled twice as well for SBU.
The Bonnies are back in action Monday when they face Mount St. Mary's as games continue at North Charlotte Regional Park.