ORLANDO, Fla.—Villanova (32-23) began play in its second straight appearance in the Division I Softball Championship by facing the hosts of the Orlando Regional and the #16 overall seed UCF (47-12) in the second game played at the UCF Softball Complex on Friday afternoon. A fast start in the opening two innings of play lifted the Knights to a 6-0 victory and sets up an elimination game on Saturday between the Wildcats and South Dakota State (41-11). Earlier on Friday the Jackrabbits lost to Michigan (37-16) by a score of 2-1.
 
Villanova was stymied offensively despite several hard-hit balls that were either hit right at the defense or were tracked down in the deeper parts of the ballpark. The four base runners for the Wildcats in the contest came via three hits and a walk, as junior Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) and senior Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) reached base consecutively in both the first and fourth innings. Smith, who continues to lead Villanova in batting average this season, raised her mark on the year to .333 with a 2-for-3 day. Kern went 1-for-2 with a walk and joins Smith as two of the four Wildcats hitters who are over .300 for the season.
 
Batting with two outs and nobody on in the top of the first inning, Smith swung at the first pitch she saw and lined a single back up the middle to get Villanova started. Kern followed and slid a 2-1 pitch through the left side for the second hit of the opening inning, but UCF pitcher Gianna Mancha (22-3, 1.63 ERA) ended the inning with a called third strike and went on to pitch the rest of the way with a lead after the Knights plated three runs in the home half of the first.
 
All but one of the runs UCF scored came on two swings of the bat by catcher Jada Cody in the bottom of the first and second innings. She hit a three-run home run with nobody out in the first to spot the Knights a 3-0 lead, then worked a six-pitch plate appearance in the second inning and homered on a 2-2 pitch with two outs and a runner at third. The only other run of the game beyond the two swings from Cody came in the bottom of the fourth inning when number two hitter Kennedy Searcy hit an RBI double.
 
The early deficit did not stop the Wildcats from putting together good at-bats and the Villanova lineup saw nearly five pitches per plate appearance against Mancha on the day. Smith singled to left field on the sixth pitch she saw leading off in the top of the fourth inning and Kern followed by drawing a seven-pitch walk for her 24^th free pass of the season. A pair of wild pitches would eventually move the runners up to second and third with two away before Mancha stranded both Smith and Kern in scoring position to end the inning.
 
Later in the game, senior Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) saw a drive to deep right field stay in the park and be caught for an out leading off the fifth inning, while graduate Angela Giampolo (East Windsor, N.J.) was retired on a hard liner to second base to end the top of the fifth. The final out of the game was also a hard one, as Wildcats junior Dani Dabroski (Cedar Grove, N.J.) lined out to third in her only plate appearance of the day.
 
Villanova got a lift in the final two innings from first-year pitcher/outfielder Kelsey White (Taunton, Mass.), who pitched two scoreless innings of relief after starting the game in right field. White was charged with two bunt singles allowed in the bottom of the fifth inning and allowed a base hit down the left field line in the sixth, but she escaped both innings unscathed while lowering her ERA to 3.22 in 74.0 innings pitched on the year.
 
One of the superlatives to come out of Friday's game was junior Victoria Sebastian (Ramsey, N.J.) moving into the top spot in program history with a .996 career fielding percentage. Sebastian recorded nine putouts at first base to move percentage points ahead of former Wildcats catcher and outfielder Kriste Romano. During her career Sebastian has handled 500 chances in the field with 493 putouts, five assists and just two errors. Her 355 putouts this year are the sixth-most in a single season in school history. Junior catcher Ally Jones (Brielle, N.J.) threw out a runner trying to steal in the bottom of the third inning for the 13^th caught stealing against her this season. Jones has thrown out 42 percent (13-of-31) of would-be base stealers this season and nearly had another in the same inning, but Johneisha Rowe was called safe at second base on a steal attempt with two outs in the third when Jones' throw down to second wasn't handled cleanly.
 
Saturday's game between Villanova and South Dakota State is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN+. An earlier game between UCF and Michigan would need to end no later than 1:00 in order for the Wildcats to begin on time. If there is a need for schedule adjustments due to the timing of the first game or for weather, they will be communicated on Saturday as they become available.