ORLANDO, Fla.—An incredible ride during the 2022 season came to an end for Villanova (32-24) on Sunday morning in the final day of play at the Orlando Regional as the Wildcats fell, 5-4, to South Dakota State (41-12) with one out in the bottom of the ninth at the UCF Softball Complex. The loss in no way diminishes the growth of a Villanova program which won its second straight BIG EAST title, played in an NCAA regional for the second straight year and recorded 30+ wins for the 15^th time in school history.
 
It was fitting for the last game of the year to be an extra-inning affair for a group of Wildcats who battled to the final pitch and extended their season to the last possible moment. Villanova set numerous career and single-season records along the way and withstood an 11-hour day at the field with multiple weather delays just to get into a third day at an NCAA regional site. The game against the Jackrabbits was suspended on Saturday night with the score tied 1-1 after five innings. Both teams scored three times in the seventh inning to send the game on further.
 
With the score still knotted at 1-1, graduate student Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch leading off the seventh inning and junior Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) worked an eight-pitch walk. That brought to the plate senior Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) who drilled the first pitch she saw back up the middle for an RBI single which gave the Wildcats their first lead of the weekend. Rauch was going to score all along on Kern's base hit, but on the throw home Smith alertly took advanced to third and Kern pulled into second. The ball got away from South Dakota State catcher Allison Yoder at home plate which allowed Smith to break for the plate, and pitcher Tori Kniesche backing up the play made an errant throw back to Yoder as Smith scored and then Kern came racing home.
 
It was a 4-1 lead for Villanova by the time the dust settled, but the high drama of the seventh inning was just getting started. In the bottom of the seventh inning it was Yoder leading off and she singled to right field against senior pitcher Sara Kennedy (Newtown, Conn.). Peyton Daugherty chopped a ball to the right of junior Victoria Sebastian (Ridgewood, N.J.) at first base. She ranged far to her right to grab the ball on one hop, but had no play at first base and both runners were safe as Daugherty was credited with an infield single. Emma Osundson laced a single down the left field line to score Yoder and put the tying runs on base for South Dakota State.
 
A hit batter, a walk and an RBI single against sophomore Caroline Pellicano (Norristown, Pa.) tied the game at 4-4 with the bases still loaded and nobody out. Pellicano then made the biggest pitchers of her career and escaped the inning without allowing the winning run to score. She struck out Lindsey Culver for the first out and got Brooke Dumont to bounce a ball to shortstop which Kern fielded and threw home for a force out. Jocelyn Carrillo followed suit with another grounder to short and this time Kern flipped to graduate Angela Giampolo (East Windsor, N.Y.) at second base for the final out.
 
The only base runner the rest of the way for the Wildcats came with two outs in the top of the eighth inning when Giampolo was hit by a pitch for the 34^th time in her career, tying the Villanova all-time record in what turned out to be her final collegiate plate appearance. Freshman pitcher Kelsey White (Taunton, Mass.), in her third pitching stint of the weekend and second of the game, retired South Dakota State in order in the bottom of the eighth inning but allowed a leadoff single and a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth.
 
Two hits by Kern and a single off the bat of junior Ally Jones (Brielle, N.J.) were the only three hits in the game for the Wildcats, who tied a season-high with eight walks while getting hit by three pitches. Kern had a third-inning double in the first stretch of this game which was played on Saturday afternoon to go along with the single which ultimately plated three runs in the seventh inning on Sunday morning. Giamplo walked once and was hit by a pitch twice. She tied the Villanova career record which was originally set by Nikki Alden (2016-18). Giampolo was hit 34 times in her Wildcats career, including four games in which was plunked twice.
 
For the last three years Giampolo and Kern have been a constant at second base and shortstop, respectively, in the Villanova lineup. Kern broke the program's single-season record for assists during the South Dakota State game and made five plays on Sunday alone in the final three-plus innings of the game. She played all 56 games of the season at shortstop and finishes the season with 132 assists, five more than the previous record of 127 held by Sarah Wall since 2005.
 
Earlier in the weekend, junior Victoria Sebastian (Ridgewood, N.J.) became the Wildcats all-time career leader in fielding percentage with a mark of .996. She had eight putouts against the Jackrabbits to finish the year with 363 putouts total; that is the fourth-most in a single season in the Villanova record book. Sebastian's career totals of 501 putouts, five assists and two errors give her a .9961 career fielding percentage, just ahead of former Wildcats catcher/outfielder Kriste Romano (2000-03) who had a .9960 mark.
 
That leaves the legend of Paige Rauch among records to be celebrated from the 2022 season. Rauch ends her unmatched Villanova career as a 15-time school record holder, including eight career records and seven single-season marks set during the 2019 and 2021 seasons. Her career records include runs scored (167), runs batted in (157), home runs (49), total bases (426), walks (126), on-base percentage (.499), slugging percentage (.749) and OPS (1.248). She set single season records for on-base percentage (.561, 2019); slugging percentage (.935, 2019); home runs (18, 2019); total bases (145, 2019); walks (45, 2021); and shutouts (nine, 2021).