Coming off a loss last Wednesday against Penn, the Villanova softball team took two of three games during a series with Providence this weekend at the Villanova Softball Complex. On Saturday, the team split a double header against the Friars, losing game one, 2-1, before winning the second game, 4-0. This effort was followed up with a 6-0 win in the series finale on Sunday.  

Game one started off as a pitchers’ duel, with both sides dealing. For the Wildcats, sophomore Paige Rauch did not allow a hit through the first three innings. Freshman Daniela Alvarez was on the mound for Providence and made it difficult on the Wildcat hitters early in the game. 

Villanova got a runner on from an error in the first inning and a hit by pitch in the second, but was unable to push the runners across. In the third inning, freshman Sydney Hayes reached base on an error by the Providence third baseman, her second of the game. The Wildcats were unable to capitalize, however, leaving a runner on base for the third straight inning. 

The fourth inning continued the pitchers duel, but the Friars broke through in the top half of the fifth. Outfielder Mackenzie Compton doubled, and shortly after junior Crista San Antonio got a hit up the middle to score Compton and give the Friars a 1-0 lead. Rauch was able to close the inning, but the Wildcats couldn’t get on the board in the bottom half of the 5th. 

In the top of the sixth, senior outfielder Emma Lee doubled up the middle. Senior Vanessa Portillo followed Lee and fought during a 10 pitch at bat, which ended with a single up the middle. This allowed Lee to score and gave the Friars a 2-0 lead. 

Villanova cut into the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a hit by junior Becky Ducar. The run put the Wildcats down only 2-1, but Alvarez was able to get out of the jam. Rauch pitched a clean top of the 7th, giving the Wildcats three outs to win game one of the doubleheader.  

Hayes singled in the bottom of the 7th, putting runners on first and second base, putting some pressure on the Friars. Sophomore Angela Giampolo followed with a walk, meaning the bases were loaded. The Wildcats came up short, however, as a fly ball to the Providence first baseman ended the game with a Villanova loss. 

Game two of the doubleheader had a similar start, as there was no score going into the bottom of the fourth inning. In that half inning, the Wildcats were able to break open the game. With the bases loaded, senior Kendall Ohman hit a sacrifice fly to score Julia DaCosta. Hayes followed with a single scoring one, and after a double by Angela Giampolo scored two, the Wildcats led, 4-0. 

Starting pitcher freshman Sarah Kennedy dominated the rest of the game for Villanova, and the Wildcats finished with a 4-0 win. Kennedy allowed only three hits, getting quick revenge against the Friars for the loss in the first game. 

In Sunday’s rubber game, the ‘Cats again shut out the Friars, propelled by four scoreless innings from Kennedy and three from Rauch. Kennedy picked up the win in the contest, moving her record to 5-1 on the season. In addition to her efforts on the mound, Rauch also played a big role offensively, picking up two RBIs on the day on two hits, including a solo home run in the third inning. Hayes also had a big game at the plate, notching three RBI’s in her two plate appearances on the day. 

With the series victory, Villanova moves to 18-17 on the season and 3-3 in Big East play.