VILLANOVA, Pa.—Junior catcher Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) hit a three-run home run, senior second baseman Angela Giampolo (East Windsor, N.J.) cleared the bases with a three-run double and Villanova (31-12, 14-2 BIG EAST) rallied from a four-run deficit before holding on late for a 7-6 win over Connecticut (20-17, 12-8 BIG EAST) in a doubleheader nightcap at the Villanova Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon. The win made for a sweep of Saturday's twin-bill after the Wildcats tallied a 1-0 victory in the first game of the day.
 
After the pitching-rich opening game of the doubleheader, the second game was a slog which wasn't complete until four pitchers combined for 299 pitches in a contest that surpassed two-and-a-half hours. Villanova did not have a hit until the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Wildcats drew a season-high nine walks and put consistent pressure on Huskies pitchers Payton Kinney and Meghan O'Neil (10-5, 3.17 ERA). Connecticut took a 4-0 lead with a big third inning, but Villanova roared back with four runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth inning before scoring three more times in the home half of the fifth to take the lead.
 
Henry hit her 12^th home run of the season to get the Wildcats on the board in the fourth inning after sophomore offensive player Ally Jones (Brielle, N.J.) led off with a single and junior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) doubled to the gap in left-center. Henry drilled a 1-2 pitch well over the fence in left-center field to match senior teammate Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) as the only batters in school history to hit as many as a dozen home runs in a season. Rauch had 12 homers last year and set the program's single-season record with 18 home runs in 2019.
 
Villanova was not finished in the fourth inning after the Henry home run. Freshman Tess Cites (Horseheads, N.Y.) pinch hit and drew a walk which put the tying run on base. Junior center fielder Sydney Hayes (Douglassville, Pa.) reentered the game to run for Cites and Connecticut made a pitching change with O'Neil replacing the freshman starter Kinney. The first batter that O'Neil faced was sophomore left fielder Dani Dabroski (Cedar Grove, N.J.), whose sinking liner towards the left field line fell in after Huskies left fielder Cali Jolley tried to make a diving catch but had the ball hit off her glove while she was in fair territory. Hayes raced home with the tying run and the Wildcats loaded the bases with still nobody out on consecutive walks to Rauch and Giampolo, but O'Neil struck out three batters in a row and the score remained knotted at 4-4 through four innings.
 
The momentum had clearly swing in Villanova's favor though, and junior pitcher Sara Kennedy (Newtown, Conn.) came in to pitch in the fifth inning and struck out the side on 12 pitches. Kern led off the bottom of the inning with her second double of the game, Henry walked and Connecticut later pitched around Rauch to load the bases with two outs. Giampolo was up next and fouled off four straight pitches before working the count back even at 2-2. She eventually hit the eighth pitch of the plate appearance to the wall in left field for a bases-clearing, three-run double which gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 7-4.
 
The three-run margin was a necessary one. An infield single sandwiched in between two hit batters loaded the bases for the Huskies with one out in the top of the seventh inning. A passed ball allowed one run to score and a second run came home on a throwing error on the infield to cut the Villanova advantage to 7-6, with the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base. Kennedy (6-3, 3.82 ERA) struck out pinch hitter Madisyn Estorga with runners at the corners, then intentionally walked Connecticut leadoff batter Reese Guevarra to load the base. The final batter of the game was Huskies center fielder Aziah James who grounded out to third to end the game.
 
This is the fourth time in program history that the Wildcats have won at least 14 regular season BIG EAST games. Villanova can tie a team record with a 15^th conference win on Sunday afternoon when it takes on the Huskies at 12 p.m. in this weekend's series and regular season finale.