VILLANOVA, Pa.—Freshman right fielder Kelsey White (Taunton, Mass.) hit her first collegiate home run in the bottom of the first inning and graduate pitcher Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) ended the game with a three-run shot of her own as Villanova (13-17, 3-2 BIG EAST) finished off a three-game sweep of St. John's (5-23, 1-8 BIG EAST) with a 9-1 victory in six innings at the Villanova Softball Complex on Sunday afternoon.
 
White set the tone early with a long three-run homer and the Wildcats later scored three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to record their first series sweep of the year. Villanova outscored the Red Storm by a 24-4 margin in the series and batted .378 with five doubles and five home runs in the three games. Rauch and White had two hits apiece in the finale on Sunday and the Wildcats got at least one hit from eight different spots in the batting order.
 
Rauch and senior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) hit consecutive one-out singles in the bottom of the first inning and White crushed the first pitch she saw over the left field fence to stake Villanova to the early lead. It was more than enough run support for Rauch (8-4, 2.75 ERA), who gave up a solo home run to Amy Mallah in the top of the sixth inning but otherwise cruised through a five-hitter with no walks and six strikeouts.
 
Cold temperatures and intermittent snow showers during the game made for a day where not a lot of offense might be expected, and the early 3-0 lead for the Wildcats stood up until the bottom of the fifth inning. Rauch reached on an error to start that inning, while White and junior catcher Ally Jones (Brielle, N.J.) singled back-to-back to load the bases with one out. St. John's pitcher Carlina Zamudio (1-10, 4.91) got senior offensive player Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) to ground into a fielder's choice back to the circle with a force-out being recorded at home plate, but freshman second baseman Ava Franz (Aston, Pa.) was safe on another Red Storm fielding miscue as two unearned runs scored to push the scoring margin to 5-0.
 
Freshman pinch hitter Amanda DeSantis (Endwell, N.Y.) entered the game at that point and lined an RBI single through the right side to score a third run in the inning. DeSantis recorded her first collegiate hit and run batted in with the single off Zamudio. It was a good day for Villanova to show off the depth of its roster. Pinch runners Tess Cites (Horseheads, N.Y.) and Elaina Wagner (Fishkill, N.Y.) each scored after entering the game, while DeSantis and sophomore Alyssa Seidler (West Babylon, N.Y.) both delivered pinch-hit singles.
 
Seidler led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single up the middle, junior third baseman Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) singled through the left side and Rauch followed by hitting a 2-1 pitch deep into the left-center field gap. All of the bounces seemed to go the Wildcats way this weekend and Rauch's ball caromed off the top of the wall padding and up over the fence for a three-run home run which ended the game. Rauch homered in both of the games she started in the circle this weekend and now has five home runs on the year.
 
The only run of the game for the Red Storm came with one out in the sixth inning when Mallah hit the first offering she saw from Rauch for only the second St. John's home run of the season. Red Storm catcher Melanie Santos singled later in the inning before Rauch got a fielder's choice for the third out. She retired the first seven batters of the game before Anna Freveletti chopped a ball into the ground along the third base line for a single with one out in the third inning. Leadoff hitter Meisha Murray beat out an infield single with two outs in the third and the score 3-0 at that point, but Mallah fouled out to Smith to end the scoring threat.
 
Villanova hosts a midweek game against Saint Joseph's on Wednesday afternoon before traveling to Chicago for a three-game road series versus DePaul next weekend.