Box Score VILLANOVA, Pa. – A seventh inning rally fell just short Saturday as DePaul held on for a 3-2 victory over Villanova in the second game of a BIG EAST doubleheader. The Wildcats scored twice in the final frame but could not push across the tying run.
 
Anissa Amarillas pitched seven solid innings for the Wildcats (18-10 overall, 4-1 BIG EAST). Ally Jones had two of Nova's five hits.
 
Amarillas set the Blue Demons (16-8 overall, 7-1 BIG EAST) down in order in the top of the first but DePaul pushed across an unearned run in the second inning. After an infield single and two hit batters loaded the bases, a Blue Demons runner came home on a passed ball to make it 1-0.
 
Jones delivered Nova's first hit of Game 2 with a double that one-hopped the left center field fence. Tess Cites reached on a walk. But DePaul wiggled out of the jam and retained its 1-0 lead as the game moved to the third inning.
 
DaCosta sent a deep fly to the wall in left center field to lead off the fourth that Angela Scalzitti could not come up with, allowing DaCosta to reach second base. Cites followed with a one-out single through the middle that advanced DaCosta to third base. Sydney Hayes popped up in front of DePaul pitcher Natalie Halvorson but Halvorson could not reach the ball on the fly and all runners were safe to load the bases.
 
The Blue Demons, though, recorded the next two outs without surrendering a run to keep it a 1-0 game after four innings.
 
Jones connected on her second double of the day to lead off the bottom of the sixth for Villanova. Cites followed with a base on balls. But Halvorson eluded any damage with the inning ending on a double play to keep it a 1-0 Blue Demons' lead.
 
Nicole Sullivan tripled into the right field corner to lead off the top of the seventh inning for the Blue Demons. Grace Frazier then beat out an infield single to put runners at the corners. Amarillas retired Scalzitti on a comebacker with Frazier moving up to second base. Sullivan then scored on an RBI ground out to add DePaul's second run of the day. Jessica Cothern followed with an RBI single to extend the margin to 3-0.
 
The Wildcats first two runners reached in the bottom of the seventh as Giampolo was hit by a pitch and Paige Rauch drew her fourth walk of the day. Chloe Smith followed with a single to load the bases with no one out. A sacrifice fly by Ryan Henry scored Giampolo and advanced Rauch to third base. DaCosta hit another sacrifice fly to center field to score Rauch and shave the deficit to 3-2.
 
DePaul then elected to intentionally walk Jones to put runners at first and second with two out. The Blue Demons were then able to record the final out and earn a split of the day's doubleheader (Villanova took the first game 2-0).