VILLANOVA, Pa.—Sophomore designated player Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) continued her power tear with the first multi-home run game of her career, senior right fielder Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) doubled home the game-winning run and Villanova (5-7) swept a doubleheader from Hofstra (1-3) with a walk-off 9-8 victory at the Villanova Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon. Henry clubbed two long blasts to near straightaway center field for her sixth and seventh home runs through the first 12 games of the season.
 
It was a hard-fought win for the Wildcats, who had won the first game Saturday by a 6-0 score when head coach Bridget Orchard tallied her 800^th career win. Villanova raced out to another 6-0 lead through three innings in the nightcap and led 8-2 through four innings before the Pride rallied with a single run in the top of the fifth and a five-run outburst in the sixth inning which knotted the score at 8-8. Rauch ripped a double to right with one out in the bottom of the seventh to drive in junior center fielder Sydney Hayes (Douglassville, Pa.) with the game-winning run.
 
Sophomore third baseman Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) went 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and one RBI in the high-scoring affair. Junior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) added two hits, while Henry and senior left fielder Julia DaCosta (North Attleboro, Mass.) each scored twice. All nine batters in the starting lineup reached base safely at least once as the Wildcats offense produced 12 hits, matched a season-high with seven walks and also had two batters get hit by a pitch.
 
Henry has been a revelation in the early going this season and is leading Villanova with a .485 batting average, seven home runs and a 1.182 slugging percentage in 12 games. She has emerged as a dangerous power threat after hitting just two home runs total through her first two collegiate games. Henry homered to left-center in the first game on Saturday, but her two blasts in the second game were picturesque shots that landed far beyond the center field once.
 
The first was a no-doubt-off-the-bat solo shot leading off the bottom of the second inning which accounted for the first run of the game, while the second was a two-run shot in the bottom of the third inning which might have gone even further than its predecessor from an inning earlier. Henry recorded her first career multi-homer game and the 28^th in program history while becoming the 19^th batter in the Wildcats annals to achieve the feat at least once. When she came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning with runners at the corners and one out, could it have come as any surprise that Hofstra chose to intentionally walk her?
 
Junior starting pitcher Sara Kennedy (Newtown, Conn.) went the distance on the mound for Villanova and earned her second win of the season. Kennedy (2-3, 5.40 ERA) was hardly hit hard despite being charged with 11 hits and eight runs (six earned) in the contest. She walked one and struck out two, but was also the victim of poor contact by a number of batters whose dribblers found just enough room between home plate and the closest fielder to result in infield singles.
 
After the Pride took advantage of a leadoff error in the fourth inning to score two unearned runs, Kennedy made big pitches in the top of the fifth to limit Hofstra to just one run in that frame. Pride catcher Devyn Losco tapped a ball in front of the plate which Henry double-clutched on before throwing to first, Kayla Wilson rolled a bunt single towards third leadoff batter Kristin Hallam beat out an infield hit to load the bases with nobody out. A run scored on  a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning, but one batter later Kennedy alertly picked up another soft roller and got the lead runner at the plate for the second out. Afer a wild pitch advanced runners to second and third, Kennedy induced a fly to center to end the inning.
 
Similar circumstances in the top of the sixth inning helped Hofstra come all the way-back from the pair of six-run deficits it faced during the contest. Lindsay Hay was hit by a pitch with one out, while Angelina Ioppolo and Losco recorded infield hits to load the bases. This time there was a big hit in the offing for the Pride, as pinch hitter Madison McKevitt cleared the bases with a double to left which made the score 8-6. With runners at second and third and two away Jaycee Ruberti lined a single to center which scored Wilson, while Hallam also eventually scored when Ruberti got into a rundown between first and second and was thrown out on a 2-4-3-2 putout to end the inning.
 
Villanova could manage only a two-out single by Smith in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Kennedy retired the side in order in a quick 1-2-3 seventh to set the stage for the walk-off ending. Hayes singled with one out in the home half of the seventh and advanced to second when senior second baseman Angela Giampolo (East Windsor, N.J.) reached on a dropped fly ball in left field. Rauch worked to a 2-2 count in the final plate appearance of the game before blistering the sixth pitch she saw for a double to the wall in right field.
 
Prior to last Sunday, the Wildcats had played just four games ever against Hofstra and had not matched up with the Pride since the 2005 season. The teams played a neutral-site doubleheader hosted by Villanova in Newark, N.J. last Sunday and are meeting against for a three-game series on campus this weekend. With the doubleheader sweep on Saturday, the Wildcats lead the all-time series 5-3. Sunday's series finale gets underway at 12 p.m.
 
NOTES: Over her last six games Henry has gone 12-for-17 (.706) at the plate with five home runs and 28 total bases … Villanova is 29-12 all-time in home openers … Saturday marked the 17^th time during the program's varsity era that the Wildcats opened their home schedule by sweeping a doubleheader.