Following a midweek trouncing of Drexel, 12-0 in five innings, Villanova (22-17-1, 11-4 Big East) hosted a pivotal conference series with DePaul (13-23, 1-14 Big East). The Wildcats emerged with a sweep, securing 2-0, 8-0 (6) and 11-1 (5) victories over the Blue Demons.
The series began with weather issues, as Friday’s game was canceled. The games were rescheduled, with one Saturday game and a doubleheader on Sunday.
All three Villanova pitchers on the weekend — junior Kat Gallant, freshman Lexi Kobryn and senior Kelsey White — tossed complete games.
“Having complete games is great,” Villanova head coach Bridget Orchard said. “[They were] all great and able to get in a rhythm, and [Gallant and Kobryn] were able to get shutouts, which was huge.”
On Saturday, Villanova survived a pitchers’ duel. The starters for both teams, Gallant and junior Bella Nigey for DePaul, combined to shut out the game’s first five innings.
Villanova sophomore DP Maranda Runco doubled to open the bottom of the sixth, knocking Nigey out of the game. Wildcats senior shortstop Ava Franz greeted the fresh arm with an RBI single up the middle to give the Wildcats a 1-0 advantage. Franz came around to make it 2-0 later in the inning, scoring on junior second baseman Maddie Burrows’ RBI infield single.
Gallant polished off a two-hit shutout by retiring the Blue Demons in order in the seventh to end the game. Gallant (10-6) reached double digits in the victory column with her performance, allowing just the two hits across seven shutout innings. She did not walk a batter and recorded six punchouts.
Villanova secured an 8-0 run-rule victory in six innings to open the Sunday doubleheader.
Junior center fielder Madison Ostrowski began the scoring in the second inning, knocking in the first run with an RBI double.
Runco blasted a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 3-0 game.
Ostrowski continued her big day in the sixth, knocking in two more runs, with another double to make it 5-0. With two outs, Franz smacked a three-run home run, effectively “walking-off” the game. The blast gave the Wildcats the necessary eight-run cushion to end the game early.
“I think it’s confidence, you know, [Madison Ostrowski] is getting comfortable out there,” Orchard said. “She’s swinging at good pitches and squaring them up, and she’s playing great defense as well.”
Kobryn (8-7) spun an abbreviated complete-game shutout, completing 6.0 innings of scoreless softball. She allowed just two hits, scattered two walks and fanned five hitters.
In the second game of the doubleheader and the series finale, the Wildcats trounced the Blue Demons 11-1 in five innings. Brooklyn Ostrowski’s huge performance at the plate marked the first three-homer game from a Wildcat since 1977.
Villanova freshman catcher Ava Mahnken led off the game in the bottom of the first inning with a home run, setting the tone for the game. Three batters later, White knocked in another run with an RBI single. Finally, graduate first baseman Brooklyn Ostrowski capped the inning with a three-run homer to make it a 5-0 Wildcat lead at the end of the first inning.
DePaul trimmed the lead to four with a sacrifice fly in the top of the second inning, but Villanova responded in the bottom of the second, exploding for its second consecutive five-run inning to take a 10-1 lead.
After Madison Ostrowski led off the inning with a single, the next two hitters drew walks to set up Franz with an opportunity to put the game out of reach. She did just that, crushing a grand slam to center field.
“For some reason, I tend to heat up later in the season,” Franz said. “I love [pitches] middle out…and we were seeing a lot of [pitches] out. I just felt good swinging…all weekend.”
Not to be outdone, Brooklyn Ostrowski smacked a home run to the opposite field three batters later, a blast that marked her second of the game and the 10th Wildcat run of the game.
In the fourth inning, with the game already out of reach, Brooklyn Ostrowski crushed her third home run of the game, another blast to the opposite field to move the Villanova lead to 11-1.
“I just tried to keep my hands back and keep seeing the ball,” she said. “I’ve been trying to keep that same mentality and [be] aggressive with it and try to go [to the opposite field].
White wrapped the game up in the top of the fifth inning, retiring DePaul to secure the Wildcats second run-rule victory of the day.
“They were just kind of playing free,” Orchard said of Villanova’s offense. “Once they started hitting, the runs and home runs came in bunches.”
White (3-2) went the distance in the win, spinning Villanova’s third complete game of the series. In five innings, she allowed one run on three hits and one walk, while striking out one.
Villanova will make a brief stop in Newark, NJ to face Delaware on Wednesday before traveling to Indianapolis, IN for a crucial three-game Big East series against Butler. With less than a month remaining until the Big East Tournament, the Wildcats are battling for position in the conference standings. They are currently tied with the University of Connecticut for second in the conference.
