VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova softball picked up its first sweep over the DePaul Blue Demons since 2017 with a 9-1 victory on Sunday, completing the program's second sweep in as many weeks.
Tess Cites once again paced Villanova (29-18, 13-5 BIG EAST) with her fifth three-hit game of the season, totaling two runs scored and an RBI with a walkoff solo shot.
Victoria Sebastian extended her hitting streak to eight and on-base streak to 11 with a base hit in the first frame, adding two runs scored and an RBI. Kelsey White drove in three on the day with a run scored, a two-RBI double and two walks, while Ava Franz plated two with a fifth-inning homer.
Kat Gallant earned her 13th win of the season with a five-inning performance, striking out four and surrendering just five hits, a walk and one unearned run.
DePaul got its first two batters on with back-to-back singles to lead off the game, but Gallant set down the 3-4-5 hitters in order to strand both runners and escape unscathed.
The Wildcats put up a four-spot in the home half of the opening frame, with Cites singling and Chloe Smith reaching on a fielder's choice as an error got Cites to third. Brooklyn Ostrowski singled to score Cites, then Sebastian brought Smith home with a base hit.
Back-to-back walks plated another for the 'Cats before a Lilly St. Jean fielder's choice granted Villanova a 4-0 advantage after the first inning.
Neither team brought any across in the second but Sebastian walked to begin the third, then Ryan Henry belted a double into right center to put two runners in scoring position. White followed up her excellent Saturday performance by delivering once again for VU, lining a two-RBI double down the left field line to get her squad up 6-0.
The Blue Demons got on the board in the fifth with a one-out walk coming back to bite Gallant. A two-out single and an error in center field got a run across but an ensuing popout ended the inning with the score at 6-1.
The Wildcats ended the contest in the fifth as White walked to lead off the bottom of that stanza, then Franz crushed a pitch over the wall in left center for her third homer of the year.
After DePaul got back-to-back outs to nearly keep the game going, Cites came through once again for the 'Cats with a solo blast on a 3-2 count for her fifth bomb of the season, walking it off by inducing the run rule with the score at 9-1.
With the victory, the Wildcats pick up their 12th win all-time and fifth in a row over DePaul.
UP NEXT: Villanova will host the Princeton Tigers for a Tuesday doubleheader before traveling to New Jersey for a three-game series against the Seton Hall Pirates, currently the second-place team in the conference.
