TUCSON, Ariz.—Sophomore catcher Ally Jones (Brielle, N.J.) hit a game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning and junior center fielder Sydney Hayes (Douglassville, Pa.) scampered home from second on an infield hit in the sixth inning as Villanova (37-14) rallied past UMBC (25-13) for a 4-3 win in an elimination game in the Tucson Regional at Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium on Saturday evening. The victory setup a second straight elimination contest for the Wildcats, who got underway against Ole Miss at 11:20 p.m. Eastern time (8:20 p.m.).
 
Villanova trailed 3-0 and had gone nine-up, nine-down when it came up to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning. Senior pitcher Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) led the inning off with a double to the fence in right-center field and junior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) drove her in with a one-out RBI single through the right side. Jones came up with two outs in the inning, worked the count full for the 28^th time this season and then blasted her seventh home run of the year to right field to tie the game at 3-3.
 
It was Jones again in the bottom of the sixth inning who started the game-winning rally. She drove a 2-2 pitch down the right field line and the ball stayed just fair as it bounced on the warning track for a one-out double. Hayes pinch ran for Jones from the flex spot with freshman right fielder Tess Cites (Horseheads, N.Y.) batting. Cites rolled an 0-1 pitch towards second for an infield single and Hayes rounded third and beat the throw home to score what turned out to be the game-winning run. It was the seventh win of the season in the Wildcats final turn at the plate.
 
Rauch (21-4, 2.16 ERA) went the distance on the mound to win her 21^st game of the season. She allowed three earned runs on nine hits while walking one and striking out six, but she bore down after Villanova tied the game and kept the Retrievers off the scoreboard for the final three innings of the game. There was a runner at first with two outs in the top of the seventh inning when UMBC third baseman Casey Turner lined a ball deep into the center field gap which Hayes tracked down and made a running sno-cone catch to end the game and extend the Wildcats season.
 
The first two runs of the game scored in the top of the third inning when Sierra Pierce hit a two-run double to left with one out in the inning to spot the Retrievers a 2-0 lead. UMBC starting pitcher Courtney Coppersmith (19-4, 1.07 ERA) led off that inning with a double that fell just in front of a diving sophomore left fielder Dani Dabroski (Cedar Grove, N.J.) in left field. An infield single put runners at the corners with nobody out, but on a safety squeeze attempt back to the circle Rauch came home to get the out at the plate. The trailing runner stole second while Pierce was at the plate, and the Retrievers number three hitter followed with the go-ahead double.
 
In the third inning, the Retrievers had runners at second and third with one out when Coppersmith reached on a fielding error and was credited with an RBI as pinch runner Karly Keating scored from third. Rauch avoided any further damage in the inning when she got leadoff hitter Maddie Daigneau to groundout and struck out Julia Keffler for the third out.
 
Coppersmith struck out eight of the first nine batters she faced before the Villanova lineup started to get better swings against her over the final three innings. She wound up yielding four earned runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out 12 in a six-inning complete game. It was the first time in three tries that the Wildcats have beaten Coppersmith, who was the winning pitcher in a 5-2 win over Villanova earlier this season. The win improved the Wildcats all-time record in the series against UMBC to 4-2, including 2-1 this season.