Final Stats

TAMPA, Fla.- The Villanova softball team (4-8 overall, 0-0 BIG EAST) wrapped up the first day of play at the USF Under Armour Showcase with a win against Army 4-2 in nine innings and a loss against USF 12-1 in five innings. The team returns for the second day of play tomorrow when they face Central Michigan at 11:15 a.m. and Western Michigan at 4:15 p.m.

Villanova vs. Army

The first inning would go by fast for both teams as strong pitching by freshman Anissa Amarillas would shut down the Army lineup by knocking out the first three batters. Villanova's Lauren Hanna would single in the first but that would be all the team could do in the first.

More dominant pitching by both sides would leave the second inning scoreless as only Nikki Alden and Dana Morris would single in the inning for Villanova meaning the score would remain 0-0.

Amarillas continued her dominate pitching as she would give up no runs on no hits in the inning to keep the game scoreless through three innings.

In the fourth Angela Giampolo would get the ball rolling for the Wildcats as she doubled to put a runner on second with two outs. A single to center field by Caroline Jones would score in Giampolo to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. But Army would come right back in the bottom of the inning to tie it as a single by Army's Reilly and a double by Cole would tie the score 1-1 heading to the fifth.

Due to consistent dominate pitching by both sides, the game would remain scoreless as the game had to move to extra innings. The game would go into the ninth inning as Nikki Alden was placed on second to start the inning. After Kendall Ohman pinch ran for Alden, she stole third base. Angela Giampolo would get hit by a pitch placing her on first. With one out in the inning and two runners on freshman Julia DaCosta belted a double which scored Ohman and Giampolo to give the Wildcats the 3-1 lead. Becky Ducar would keep the scoring going as she knocked in a single scoring DaCosta to end the inning with Villanova ahead 4-1. Army only be able to add one run to make the final score 4-2 in favor of Villanova.

Anissa Amarillas improved her record to 4-4 and she went all nine-innings giving up just two runs on eight hits and had six strikeouts.

Villanova vs. South Florida

Villanova would not do much in the first inning as only Lauren Hanna would be able to get on base in the inning after she knocked a single to second base. South Florida would threaten in the first as they started the inning with a pair of singles to put runners on first and second with no outs. After starting pitcher Taylor Rhinehart got the next batter to pop out to the catcher, she walked the next batter to load the bases with just one out.

After a lineout to left field, Rhinehart was pulled out of the game and Caitlyn Dickman stepped into the circle to replace her. She was able to put away the next batter to leave three runners on and no runs were scored.

The second inning went quick for Nova as USF only allowed Angela Giampolo to single but that would be the only hit in the inning. Dickman would put away the first two batters but a single, stolen base and a double would give the Bulls the early 1-0 lead.

Villanova would begin the third with a strikeout by Megan Ruiz but the following batter Brittany Husk would single passed the pitcher to put a runner on with one out. An error by the second baseman would move Husk over to second but would be unable to capitalize as the next two batters would ground out and strike out which ended the inning.

In the bottom of the third, USF would increase their lead to 2-0 after a solo homerun by Brooke Hartman. A couple batters later, USF would double their lead after a single and a two-run homerun put the Bulls ahead 4-0.

The Wildcats were unable to score in the top of the fourth as Nikki Alden would reach first on a single and move over to second after a pop fly to the outfield but would be called out for interference which would end top half of the inning.

USF would start the bottom half of the inning with a pair of walks and a single to load the bases with no outs. The Bulls would walk in another run in the innings as they increased their lead to 5-0. A few walks and a three run homerun would increase the USF lead to 11-0. The Bulls would add one more in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 12-0.

Villanova would only be able to add one run to the score as singles by Olivia Francomano, Jordan Olivarez and Julia DaCosta would score in Francomano to make the final score after five innings 12-1.

Up Next

The Wildcats concluded the day with a record of 4-8 overall. They will face Central Michigan tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. and Western Michigan at 4:15 p.m.