Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Villanova Career: Pitched for Villanova from 2019-21 and established himself as one of the top pitchers in school history despite having both his sophomore and junior seasons truncated by the COVID-19 pandemic … Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 151^st overall selection in the fifth round of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft … His ability to generate soft contact and prevent extra-base hits were among the calling cards that made him stand out as a professional prospect … Strong and durable right-handed pitcher who was emerging as the ace of the Villanova staff when his 2020 season was halted after just four starts … Looked even stronger with a dominant 2021 campaign which resulted in him being the Wildcats highest draft pick in 10 years … Classic power pitcher with a fastball-slider-changeup repertoire … Pitched in 32 games with 28 starts, three complete games and one shutout during his collegiate career … Went 14-10 with a 2.86 ERA and a 1.193 WHIP for Villanova … Pitched 179 1/3 innings and gave up 169 hits while holding opponents to a .248 batting average … Gave up just six home runs to 754 batters faced as a collegian, including just one home run allowed in 431 plate appearances against him spanning his sophomore and junior seasons … Yielded 77 runs (57 earned) in his 179 1/3 innings while walking 45 and striking out 145 … Opposing batters had a .268 slugging percentage against him over his final two seasons on the Wildcats staff … Recorded three games with 10+ strikeouts in his career, with all three coming in a span of his final four collegiate starts … As a sophomore in 2020 was the winning pitcher in a 2-1 win over No. 3 Arizona State which was the highest-ranked opponent the Wildcats had ever beaten … As of the end of the 2021 season ranked third in school history in career WHIP (1.193), fourth in ERA (2.86) and 10^th in opponent batting average (.248) … Had the sixth-lowest walk rate (2.26 BB/9) of any Villanova pitcher with at least 100 career innings pitched … Named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team as a freshman in 2018-19 and was a three-time member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.
 
2021: Put himself in the conversation as one of the top pitchers in school history with a season for the ages … The year culminated with Graceffo being a fifth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Major League Baseball Draft … Named to the ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I All-East Region first team and was a second team All-BIG EAST selection … Chosen as the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on March 8 and was a four-time conference Honor Roll pick during the year … At the end of the collegiate season was ranked among the top 250 draft prospects and was selected 151^st overall by the Cardinals … Set a Wildcats single-season record with a WHIP of 0.963 for the year … Ranked fifth in Villanova history for a single season in ERA, with his 1.54 mark the lowest every by a pitcher who threw as many innings (82.0) as he did … His 86 strikeouts and seven victories were each top-10 marks in the Wildcats single season record book … Made 11 starts on the year and went 7-2 with the 1.54 ERA and the 0.963 WHIP … Logged 82.0 innings pithed with 86 strikeouts and just 13 walks while holding opponents to a .221 batting average and a .262 slugging percentage against him … Finished the regular season ranked eighth in the nation in ERA while sitting at 24^th nationally in fewest walks per nine innings (1.43) and 29^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.62:1) … Made seven of his 11 starts against BIG EAST opponents and went 4-2 with a 1.75 ERA in those outings … Averaged 7 1/3 innings per start in conference games and had 58 strikeouts compared to just 42 hits over 51 1/3 innings pitched … Walked just eight batters in seven league starts while averaging 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings to go along with a 7.25:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio … Put an exclamation point on the year with a sensational run of five consecutive starts to end the season … In those outings against Butler, conference runner-up Xavier, conference champion Connecticut, Georgetown and St. John’s, he was 4-0 with six earned runs allowed spanning 34 2/3 innings, during which he walked just four batters and struck out 45 … He pitched into at least the eighth inning in five of his final six starts on the year, including a complete game against Xavier and a career-high 12 strikeouts over eight innings in a win over Connecticut … Earlier in the year was the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on March 8 after he pitched a five-hit shutout with seven strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Hofstra one day earlier.
 
2020: Named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice during the season … Won each of his four starts on the year and was 4-0 with a 1.42 ERA when the season was halted after 14 games … His four wins led the BIG EAST and were tied for second nationally … Also led the conference in ERA among qualified pitchers … Held opponents to a .216 batting average against him and gave up just five extra-base hits (one home run) to 106 batters faced … Logged 25 1/3 innings and gave up 21 hits and five runs (four earned) while walking seven and striking out 12 … Pitched 5 1/3 innings in his season debut as the Wildcats tallied a 2-1 upset over No. 3 Arizona State, the highest-ranked win in program history … Allowed a solo home run and just one other hit in that outing … Pitched six innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out four in a win over Campbell … Worked a season-high 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball to beat Eastern Michigan … Scattered seven hits and an earned run over 6 1/3 innings of a win over Bucknell.
 
2019: Two-time BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selection … Worked his way into the weekend starting rotation by the end of his freshman season and wound up going 3-8 with a 4.88 ERA in 17 appearances (13 starts) on the season … His 13 starts were the most on the team and he pitched one complete game … Ranked second on the staff in innings pitched, victories and ERA while finishing third in strikeouts … Over 72.0 innings allowed 82 hits and 48 runs (39 earned) while walking 25 and striking out 47 … Surrendered only five home runs to 323 batters faced … Over his final four starts of the year pitched to a 3.38 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings … Went at least six innings in four of his final seven starts, including a season-high 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball and a season-high eight strikeouts in a 3-1 win over Georgetown … Gave up just one earned run on four hits over six innings in a 1-0 loss at Butler … Held Xavier to one earned run while striking out five over five innings … Pitched seven innings against Creighton and gave up three earned runs on five hits … Overall was 2-3 with a 2.70 ERA, a .226 opponent batting average and averaged better than six innings per start in six outings against BIG EAST foes … Earned his first win of the season when he pitched two perfect innings of relief in a 5-4 win over Penn.
 
Cranford High School: Earned three varsity letters as a pitcher on the baseball team while playing for former Villanova standout and Varsity Club Hall of Fame inductee Dennis McCaffery … Had a career ERA of 2.25 with 30 walks and 128 strikeouts during his scholastic career … Three-time first team all-conference and three-time first team all-county selection … Earned first team all-group honors as a junior … Achieved High Honor Roll status academically all four years.
 
Personal: Born 3/17/00 in Cranford, N.J. … Oldest of three children of Gerald and Melanie Graceffo … Has two younger siblings, Gabe and Isabel … Chose to attend Villanova for its incredible culture … Enrolled in the Villanova School of Business … Marketing major.