Joey Castellanos finished with three hits to lead Villanova to a 6-5 victory over Delaware on Tuesday in the Liberty Bell Classic title game at Citizens Bank Park.
The win marks the first time the Wildcats have won the local tournament since 2011.
Villanova carried a five-run lead into the sixth before the Blue Hens mounted a comeback with a four-run frame highlighted by a two-run single by John Weglarz.
The Wildcats jumped on the scoreboard early, with Castellanos pushing Chris Rotondo across the plate in the first inning with an RBI single. Shane Solari drove in a run in the second with a sacrifice bunt, with another run coming home via an error.
Chic DeGaetano tossed four innings for the Wildcats, surrendering one run on four hits. He collected five strikeouts and walked just one.
Cole Vanderslice starred in relief, hurling two scoreless innings while whiffing three.
Trailing by one, the Blue Hens threatened in the ninth with a leadoff single and a walk putting the potential go-ahead run on base. Things became interesting with a wild pitch, stolen base, and a passed ball in the inning, but Danny Wilkinson extinguished the threat to collect his first save of the season.
Villanova (14-18-1) returns to action this weekend with a conference series at UConn.
