Villanova softball (16-16, 8-4 Big East) had a tough weekend against Seton Hall (19-14, 7-5), losing two of three games in the series.
The Wildcats fell, 3-2, in the opener and 4-1 in the finale, but secured a 9-4 victory on Saturday’s game.
The Wildcats dropped the series opener on Friday after a comeback bid fell short in the seventh.
Seton Hall put up the first runs of the weekend in the bottom of the fourth inning, taking a 3-0 lead on senior right fielder Taylor Hill’s three-run home run.
Villanova trimmed the lead to two in the top of the fifth, when redshirt senior first baseman Brooklyn Ostrowski knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly.
After a scoreless sixth for both sides, the Wildcats looked to rally in the sixth inning. With one out, sophomore DP Maranda Runco smacked a solo home run, cutting the Pirate lead to just one.
However, the momentum was short-lived, as the next two hitters grounded out and struck out, respectively, to end the game.
Junior Kat Gallant took the complete-game loss. She allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings, striking out three.
Villanova tied the series on Saturday with a 9-4 come-from-behind victory.
Seton Hall ambushed the ‘Cats in the first, plating four runs on a sacrifice fly, an RBI single, a passed ball and a bases-loaded walk.
After going scoreless in the first three innings, the Wildcats exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning to flip the game.
Ostrowski started the barrage with a single that Seton Hall second baseman Caroline Hobbes booted, leading to the first Wildcat run.
Freshman catcher Ava Mahnken knocked in the second run with an RBI single to left field. Sophomore third baseman Grace Reed’s bases-loaded walk added the third run before junior left fielder Madison Ostrowski knotted the game at four with an RBI single.
To cap the inning, Runco demolished a grand slam to give the Wildcats an 8-4 lead, marking a stunning turnaround.
“[Runco] has been huge for us,” Wildcats head coach Bridget Orchard said. “[Opposing teams] either have to pitch around her or come right at her, and she was able to hit a couple of key home runs.”
The Wildcats would add another run in the sixth on senior shortstop Ava Franz’s run-scoring double to widen the lead to five.
“As a senior, Ava [Franz] has faced [Seton Hall’s] pitching a few times, so she was confident and had a good approach,” Orchard said. “She was able to square up a few pitches and get some big hits.”
Seton Hall failed to score after the first inning, a testament to the dominant relief effort of Villanova freshman pitcher Lexi Kobryn, who earned the win. After entering with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning, Kobryn finished the rest of the game without being charged with any runs.
In all, Kobryn pitched 6.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, scattering seven hits and one walk. She also recorded three strikeouts.
In the series finale on Sunday, the Wildcats were defeated, 4-1.
Seton Hall senior first baseman Olivia Gilbert’s second-inning home run gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead. The Pirates would make it 2-0 in the fourth on an RBI groundout.
Graduate pitcher Kelsey Carr added to the lead in the fifth, blasting a solo shot to help her own cause.
A run-scoring double in the sixth pushed the Seton Hall lead to 4-0.
With the Wildcats three outs from defeat, Franz attempted to start a Wildcat rally with a leadoff home run to begin the top of the seventh inning. The comeback bid was quieted shortly thereafter, but a pop out and a pair of strikeouts ended the game.
For Villanova, Gallant took her second difficult loss of the season. She pitched four innings and allowed two runs on six hits, walking one batter and striking out four.
The Wildcats will host the University of Pennsylvania (2-23, 0-9 Ivy League) for a single game on Wednesday at the Villanova Softball Complex. Villanova will then head to Brighton, Massachusetts, for weekend matchups against Boston College (5-15, 3-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Army (21-12, 5-0 Patriot League).
