ATLANTA, Ga.—The power bats up and down the lineup did not miss a beat during the offseason and Villanova (1-0) started the 2022 season off with a dominant 9-1 win over Marshall (1-1) in its first game at the Buzz Classic on Friday afternoon. Senior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) and sophomore right fielder Tess Cites (Horseheads, N.Y.) homered for the Wildcats and graduate pitcher Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) pitched a three-hitter with six strikeouts in a five-inning contest.
 
This is the fifth time in the last six years that Villanova has won its season opener. There is more to come on Friday for the Wildcats, who will face tournament host Georgia Tech at 6 p.m. in its second game of the day.
 
Eight different batters had a hit for Villanova, which scored in all five innings and ended the game on Rauch's run-scoring single to left field with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Kern and junior first baseman Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) drove in two runs apiece and Cites had a career-high three runs scored in the win. More than half of the Wildcats plate appearances (16 of 29) resulted in a hit, walk, or hit by pitch. Smith was plunked twice, while three different batters had a hit and a walk.
 
The bats were ready to go from the start. Smith was hit by a pitch with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the first inning ahead of Kern smashing the team's first home run of the season deep to straightaway center field. Cites homered just to the left of that same spot leading off in the second inning and Villanova had an early 3-0 lead that set a tone for the offensive onslaught. Singles by senior catcher Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) and senior center fielder Sydney Hayes (Douglassville, Pa.) set the table for a two-run single later by Smith later in the inning which stretched the score to 5-0.
 
Rauch (1-0, 1.40 ERA), meanwhile, was in cruise control on the mound. She ended the top of the first inning with a called third strike and then fanned the final two batters in the top of the second in the same fashion. Four of her six strikeouts on the day came on called third strikes and she gave up just a lone single and hit batter through the first four innings while the Wildcats offense built an insurmountable lead.
 
Freshman outfielder Alexa Raphael (West Caldwell, N.J.) entered the game as a pinch runner in the second inning and stole a base ahead of scoring her first collegiate run on Smith's single in the second inning. Cites walked with one out in the bottom of the third, took second on a passed ball and advanced to third on Henry's second hit of the day. After Henry stole second, Hayes reached on an error which allowed both Henry and Cites to score for a 7-0 advantage.
 
It took until Rauch's third plate appearance of the season for her to draw her first walk of the year, no small feat after she was routinely pitched around last year. She showed why in the early innings, hitting a deep fly to right in the bottom of the first and drilling a line drive that was caught on a leap by Herd first baseman Aly Harrell in the second inning. Rauch walked leading off the bottom of the fourth though, Smith was hit by a pitch and freshman third baseman Ava Franz (Aston, Pa.) scored a run on a fielder's choice groundout.
 
Marshall briefly staved off the mercy rule in the top of the fifth inning when it plated its only run of the game against Rauch. Madison Whitaker led off with a long fly ball to deep right field that Cites fielded nicely to hold Whitaker to a single. A groundout moved Whitaker to second base with two away and pinch hitter Lauren Love singled to right on the 10^th pitch of her plate appearance to bring home the run.
 
Grace Chelemen was up next for the Herd and hit a sinking liner into shallow left field that junior left fielder Dani Dabroski (Cedar Grove, N.J.) came in on and snared with a headfirst dive to make the catch and end the inning with a runner stranded.
 
Villanova still needed just one run to end the game in its half of the fifth inning and it quickly loaded the bases with nobody out. Cites was hit by a pitch, junior first baseman Victoria Sebastian (Ridgewood, N.J.) singled to left-center and sophomore pinch hitter Emily Orr (Hillsborough, N.J.) was hit by a pitch. After an infield fly for the only out of the inning, Rauch lined a single to left field which brought home Cites with the final run of the game. Live action showed Sebastian scoring from second as well on Rauch's hit, although her run did not count as the game ended on Cites crossing the plate to seal the outcome with an eight-run margin.
 
The game was the first-ever meeting on the softball diamond between the Wildcats and Marshall. The two teams face off again on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.