GREENVILLE, N.C.—A two-run home run by graduate Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) just four pitches in to the game had Villanova (5-7) off and running in a 7-3 victory over tournament host East Carolina (4-7) in the Pirate Invitational at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium on Friday afternoon. After walking off with a 1-0 win over Gardner-Webb earlier in the day, the Wildcats plated all seven of their runs in the first two innings to race past the Pirates and win consecutive games for the first time this season.
 
Senior Megan Kern (Malvern, Pa.) and sophomore Tess Cites (Horseheads, N.Y.) each had two RBI in a five-run outburst in the top of the second inning which made the difference in the game. Junior Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) went 3-for-4 with a run scored while Rauch and graduate Angela Giampolo (East Windsor, N.J.) each scored two runs. The top five spots in the Villanova batting order combined for seven hits, six runs scored and six RBI in the victory.
 
Giampolo was hit by a pitch leading off the game and Rauch followed by hitting the first pitch she saw to straightaway center field for her 57^th career home run and 41^st in a Wildcats uniform. The offensive onslaught kicked into high gear in the top of the second inning after Villanova loaded the bases with nobody out. Senior Sydney Hayes (Douglassville, Pa.) started a five-run rally with a bunt single and stole second ahead of back-to-back walks to Giampolo and Rauch.
 
The free passes brought Kern to the plate with the bases loaded and she drove a 1-1 pitch into right-center field for a two-run single. Smith singled to load the bases for a second time and Cites followed by doubling to the gap in left-center to forge a 6-0 lead and chase East Carolina starting pitcher Jordan Hatch (1-5) after 14 batters faced. Senior Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) capped the inning with a sacrifice fly that brought Smith home from third.
 
A big lead made for smooth sailing early on for freshman starting pitcher Kelsey White (Taunton, Mass.) in her third start of the year. White (2-2, 1.97 ERA) retired the first eight batters of the game and recorded all but the final out in 6 2/3 strong innings. She scattered seven hits and three runs (two earned) while walking two, striking out three and needing just 74 pitches to get through the Pirates lineup three-plus times. Through the first 21 1/3 innings of her collegiate career White is throwing 68 percent of her pitches for strikes an averaging less than three pitches per plate appearance.
 
The first base runner for East Carolina came in the bottom of the third inning when ninth place hitter Taudra Sinnie beat out an infield single to third base. Faith Jarvis also reached on an infield single and Bailee Wilson was safe on a fielding error which prolonged the inning and allowed an unearned run to score. In the home half of the fourth Bailey Ledvina led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch, but White stayed out of further trouble in the inning by getting Logyn Estes to hit into a double play and Taylor Woodring to groundout to second.
 
When all was said and done White had recorded 14 of her 20 outs on the ground. No inning gave a better account of her success than the bottom of the fifth when she threw just five pitches and induced three groundball outs, all on weak comebackers to the circle.
 
The final three outs did not come easily, however. Joie Fittante hit a pinch-hit double with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Pirates eventually loaded the bases when they were down to their final out. Chandley Garner delivered an RBI single which made the score 7-3 and brought Wilson to the plate representing the tying run. Senior Sara Kennedy (Newtown, Conn.) relieved White and needed just one pitch to retire Wilson on a lineout to second base for the save.
 
Villanova will play two more games on Saturday, first a 10 a.m. contest with Gardner-Webb followed immediately by a scheduled 12:30 p.m. game with Fairleigh Dickinson.