PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. (Interstat) — Villanova scored eight unanswered runs after the first inning to defeat St. John’s 8-2 on Sunday afternoon at Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth. The Wildcats evened the Big East series after dropping the first two games.

Will Parkinson earned the win with 4.2 innings of one-hit relief, striking out one without allowing an earned run. Jake Francis added two scoreless innings with two hits allowed and one strikeout. Carter Richey drove in three runs, going 1 for 3 with a sacrifice fly. Brayden Leonard had two hits and an RBI.

Collin Quintano delivered a two-run single in the first inning to tie the game 2-2, and Mark Giallusi followed with an RBI single. Ayden Leonard’s RBI single in the fourth made it 4-2. The Wildcats added four runs in the fifth and sixth innings, capped by Richey’s two-run single.

St. John’s scored on a sacrifice fly in the eighth and an RBI single by Lewis Rodriguez in the ninth. Victor Frederick took the loss, allowing three earned runs in three innings. Ian Mowad and Tyler Longoria each pitched scoreless relief. The Red Storm fell to 28-23; Villanova improved to 18-28.