VILLANOVA, Pa.—Freshman second baseman Ava Franz (Aston, Pa.) powered the offense with two home runs and graduate pitcher Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) also homered while pitching a three-hitter as Villanova (11-17, 1-2 BIG EAST) opened a three-game series against St. John's (5-21, 1-6 BIG EAST) with a 6-2 victory at the Villanova Softball Complex on Friday afternoon. The difference in the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning when Franz and Rauch each hit two-run homers.
 
The two home runs by Franz are the second and third of her collegiate career. She hit a solo shot to right field in the second inning and pulled a two-run shot down the line in left with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Franz recorded the 34^th multi-homer game in Wildcats history and became the 23^rd player to hit at least two homers in a single game. Franz, junior catcher Ally Jones (Brielle, N.J.) and senior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) all have hit two home runs in a game this season.
 
Rauch (7-4, 2.89 ERA) was on cruise control in pitching her fifth complete game of the season. She has not allowed an earned run over 21 2/3 innings spanning her last five appearances, and in Friday's start versus the Red Storm did not give up so much as a base runner through the first five innings. Rauch retired the first 15 batters to face her, did not walk a batter in her outing and had four of her six strikeouts in the first five innings. A called third strike for the first out in the sixth inning with pinch hitter Kamryn Tiumalu batting made Rauch the seventh pitcher in school history to strike out at least 500 batters.
 
Villanova manufactured a run after there were two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the first inning to take an early lead that was never threatened. Kern fell into an 0-2 hole against St. John's starting pitcher Carolina Zamudio (1-9, 4.61 ERA) but fouled off a two-strike offering and then lined a single back up the middle for the first hit of the game. Freshman right fielder Kelsey White (Taunton, Mass.) walked on five pitches and Jones followed by lining a run-scoring single into center field. It was another two-strike approach that got the Wildcats the lead, as Jones fouled off four straight pitches – including two with two strikes on her – before squaring up the sixth pitch of the plate appearance and singling Kern home.
 
By the end of the game Villanova had five of its 10 hits with two-strike counts. In the bottom of the second inning Franz batted for the first time and drove an 0-2 pitch far over the fence in right field for her second home run of the season and a 2-0 lead. Senior offensive player Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) doubled leading off the fourth inning and Franz homered again two batters later to double the margin to 4-0. Later in the same inning, junior third baseman Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) singled up the middle with two away and Rauch drove a 2-2 pitch over the wall in right-center field to stretch the Wildcats lead to six runs.
 
Madison Wallace led off the top of the sixth inning for the Red Storm and grounded a ball to Kern's left that trickled off her glove to give St. John's their first base runner of the game. Pinch hitter Anna Freveletti followed with a line drive back to the circle that caromed off Rauch's outstretched glove for an infield single, and St. John's had the table set for a big inning. Rauch struck out Tiumalu for the first out of the inning though, and leadoff hitter Meisha Murray grounded out to first base with the runner advancing to second and third on the play. Amy Mallah batted with two away and lined a 2-1 pitch for a clean two-run single to center. Rauch finally got out of the inning when London Jarrard bounced into a fielder's choice.
 
Villanova was not done yet offensively, although the Wildcats were kept off the scoreboard after they loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sophomore pinch hitter Tess Cites (Horseheads, N.Y.) worked an eight-pitch walk to start the inning, but she was quickly erased when Franz hit into a double play on the infield. Freshman pinch hitter Amanda DeSantis (Endwell, N.Y.) walked ahead of singles by Smith and Rauch which left the bases full before Red Storm reliever Angela Saric got Kern to pop-up into shallow center field for the final out of the inning.
 
This season is the first year that BIG EAST teams are playing a three-game series over three straight days rather than scheduling a doubleheader on either Saturday or Sunday. The format also gives teams three days to play three games when there are weather or related scheduling concerns. Villanova's first conference series of the season against Butler was changed to a Friday doubleheader on March 11 and then the teams were snowed out the rest of the weekend.
 
It looks like the Wildcats and the Red Storm will be able to play three straight days this weekend, although Saturday's second game of the series has been moved up an hour to an 11 a.m. start time due to the threat of showers later in the afternoon.
 
Villanova is partnering with Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer® on Saturday and the Wildcats will wear gold shoelaces to show their commitment to the fight against pediatric cancer. Teams across the country representing every sport from youth to professional have Laced Up in Go4theGoal's gold laces. $4.00 from every pair of $5.00 laces plus 100% of donations go back to helping kids with cancer and their families in the state the funds are raised.