During his first three seasons on the Villanova University baseball team, Collin Quintano tended to let bad at-bats compound.

The success he enjoyed over the summer plus a mindset shift have helped him produce the best run of his college career.

Quintano, a Notre Dame-Green Pond graduate, continued his stretch of run-producing hits Sunday when he ripped a bases-loaded double to left-center field against UNC Asheville. He drove in three runs with the swing, helping Villanova (9-10 overall) secure an 11-6 win and a series victory.

Quintano, a senior, owns a team-best 1.047 OPS. He also leads the Wildcats in home runs (five) and RBIs (18).

Quintano already has matched or exceeded his best single-season totals in homers, RBIs, runs (nine) and doubles (four).

“I’m very comfortable and confident at the plate,” Quintano said by phone Monday. “That’s lots of preparation by our coaches here. One big thing that our head coach, Kevin Mulvey, talks about is having fun, being cool, calm and collected at the plate.

“One thing I’ve been doing my best at this year is just trying to have fun and not letting bad at-bats carry onto the next or onto the field. I’m just letting it go. If you strike out one at-bat, let it go, get onto the next one and see how it goes.”

Quintano built the foundation for his early-season success over the summer. He was named the MVP of the 2025 Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League after leading the league with nine home runs and 37 RBIs for the Southampton Breakers.

Quintano credited his work with Southampton manager Rob Cafiero, a member of Villanova’s Varsity Club Hall of Fame, for helping him adjust his approach at the plate. He has improved his eye and swing decisions, taking more breaking pitches out of the zone and hammering more fastballs when in a hitter’s count.

Quintano has a .400 on-base percentage so far this season. His previous best OBP came last season, when he finished at .323.

“Collin has done a nice job so far this season and we expect him to continue to help us win games,” Mulvey said via text message.

Quintano has spent most of his time this season playing first base and serving as a designated hitter. Where he plays matters less to him than continuing to contribute.

The Wildcats have five games left between now and their Big East opener April 2 against Butler.

Villanova was picked to finish sixth in preseason polling by the league’s coaches.

Quintano hopes to parlay his early success into a productive conference season. If he does, wins for the Wildcats should follow.

“We’ve played some great teams, and we’re competing well,” Quintano said. “Our arms look great. The bats are looking good too. We were hot over this past weekend against UNC Asheville, where we took the series.

“We’re off to a great start, and I feel very confident heading into Big East play soon.”

Immediate challenges: East Stroudsburg is halfway through what could be its toughest two-series stretch in PSAC East play.

The Warriors (13-8 overall, 2-2 PSAC East) opened division play by splitting a four-game series with Millersville, ranked No. 24 by D2baseball.com when the series began. ESU earned a pair of one-run victories in the middle games but missed a chance to win the series when it fell 10-3 on Monday.

Parker Frey, a Liberty High graduate, had hits in three of the four games against Millersville. He began Tuesday leading ESU in OPS (1.116) and doubles (seven).

The Warriors’ next PSAC East series pits them against No. 22 West Chester for four games Friday and Saturday. ESU, Millersville and West Chester finished 1-2-3 in the PSAC East preseason poll.

Bulldogs building: DeSales capped a three-day stretch of excellence Monday by beating Stevens 18-5. The Bulldogs (12-7 overall, 6-0 MAC Freedom Conference) earned four conference wins in that three-day span to stretch their winning streak to six games ahead of a Wednesday visit from Montclair State.

Sophomore Jacob Rivera (Liberty) starred during the four wins. He went 9-for-14 with eight runs and seven RBIs, boosting his batting average from .320 to .391.

Stephen Miller is a freelance writer.