VILLANOVA, Pa.—Senior offensive player Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the second inning and Villanova (17-19, 5-4 BIG EAST) broke open a close game with four late runs in a 7-1 win over Georgetown (12-18, 2-6 BIG EAST) at the Villanova Softball Complex on Friday afternoon. Graduate pitcher Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) struck out 11 in a three-hitter to win for the fifth time in her last six starts.
 
Henry drove in three runs with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly, junior third baseman Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) went 3-for-4 with a run scored, and freshman right fielder Kelsey White (Taunton, Mass.) chipped in with two hits and n RBI to help the Wildcats win their third straight and seventh of nine. Villanova has recorded 10+ hits in each of its last three wins and is batting .368 with 14 extra-base hits, including eight home runs, over the last three games.
 
Friday's series opener between the Wildcats and the Hoyas marked the first meeting between the teams since 2019 and it was Georgetown which got on the board first when Abby Smith lined a two-out RBI single off the outstretched glove of a leaping Smith at third base with two outs in the top of the first inning. That was the Hoyas second hit of the opening inning and it scored Mae Forshey from second base, but Rauch cruised from there and allowed just two batters to reach base the rest of the way.
 
Rauch reached double digits in strikeouts for the second time this season and the 14^th time in her career while improving to 9-5 on the season. She lowered her ERA against BIG EAST opponents to 1.93 on the year and has limited opponents to a .206 average against her while striking out 27 batters in 25 2/3 innings during conference play.
 
Villanova took the only lead it needed in the bottom of the second inning when graduate second baseman Angela Giampolo (Windsor, N.Y.) drew a leadoff walk and scored on Henry's line drive over the fence in right-center field. Her third home run of the season and 18^th of her Wildcats career was hit on a line and was still rising as it sailed over the wall to give Villanova a 2-1 lead. One inning later the Wildcats loaded the bases with nobody out when Rauch led off with a walk, senior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) reached on a fielding error and White singled to left field. With one out and the bases still full, Henry came up for the second time and lined out to left field for a sacrifice fly that scored Rauch with an unearned run.
 
The score remained 3-1 until the bottom of the sixth inning as Rauch took complete control of the contest. She retired the side in the second and third inning, gave up a one-out single to Smith in the top of the fourth and then retired another nine in a row until there was one out in the seventh inning.
 
In the bottom of the sixth inning freshman pinch hitter Ava Franz (Aston, Pa.) singled off the glove of Georgetown second baseman Lorena Vasquez-Inzunza with one out and junior left fielder Dani Dabroski (Cedar Grove, N.J.) followed with a bunt single to set the table for a big inning. Smith reached on an infield single which loaded the bases and Rauch drove in a run with an RBI groundout back to the circle where the only play was to get the out at first base. There were two outs and one run in at that point but a dropped fly-ball in left-center field which would have ended the inning instead scored two runs and White followed with an RBI single to bring home the fourth run of the frame.
 
Villanova and the Hoyas are meeting for the first time since the 2019 season after the 2020 BIG EAST schedule was canceled and Georgetown did not play during the abbreviated 2021 campaign. Friday's win was the Wildcats 12^th straight in the series, which they now lead by a 17-12 overall margin dating back to Georgetown's debut as a varsity program in 2009. The second game of the series is scheduled for 12 p.m. on Saturday and can be seen on BEDN powered by FloSports. It will be Senior Day for Villanova on Saturday and pregame ceremonies to recognize the graduating members of the Wildcats senior class will begin approximately 20 minutes prior to first pitch.
 
NOTES: It has been a good week for Villanova to support different causes in the community … During Friday's game the Wildcats wore green ribbons to support Every Mind Matters, a student-run UNITAS group focused on destigmatizing the conversation surrounding mental health … Earlier this week in a road game at Penn both Villanova and the Quakers celebrated their involvement with Team IMPACT by welcoming their respective matches to the field and taking pictures during pre-game ceremonies.