ATLANTA, Ga. – Villanova softball finished out a trip to the Peach State with a second one-run loss of the weekend, falling to the Longwood Lancers 6-5 on Saturday morning.
Brooklyn Ostrowski had a career day for Villanova (2-3), blasting two home runs for her third ever two-hit day. Tess Cites rattled off three hits in the ballgame with a double and a run scored while Victoria Sebastian hit her first homer in nearly two years and Lilly St. Jean finished out her hot weekend with a pair of base knocks.
Alyssa Seidler struck out two in her third career start, while Kat Gallant tossed four frames with six Ks on the day but Caroline Pellicano received the loss after coming on in the seventh.
The Wildcats put some early pressure on Longwood in the opening inning, using two base hits and a walk to load the bases. But a pair of first-pitch pop outs ended the early chance to keep the ballgame scoreless after a frame.
LWU became the first to put runs on the board in the next stanza, using two walks and an RBI base hit plus an error to secure a two-tally edge.
Villanova answered right away with a bang as Sebastian and the elder Ostrowski jacked homers in back-to-back at bats to level the game in the course of four pitches. It was Sebastian's first dinger since February 26th, 2022, and Brooklyn's second career bomb with the first coming in her true freshman season of 2021.
Madison Ostrowski reached on an error at second base, then Cites belted a two-bagger into the gap to force a pitching change with two runners in scoring position and nobody down.
Ava Franz came to the dish and grounded one to third base, so the fielder decided to throw out Ostrowski at the plate. Franz wisely got caught in a rundown between first and second, drawing the defense's attention and allowing Cites to cross the plate standing.
After Franz took second on a wild pitch, St. Jean kept up her hot start to the season by driving a pitch into the outfield to score Franz without a throw and cap off a four-run inning.
That lead wouldn't last long with Longwood answering instantly, rattling off three consecutive hits to level the matchup at 4-4.
LWU captured its first lead of the contest in the fifth, belting a two-out solo home run for the only dinger allowed by the Wildcats on the season to that point.
Brooklyn made her presence felt yet again in the sixth inning, crushing a pitch down the left field line that tucked itself inside the foul pole for her second homer of the day. With a two-bomb morning, she exceeded her career dinger output in just one game by going from one to three.
As was tradition throughout the bout, Longwood responded by getting the lead back. The Lancers utilized a pair of ground ball singles, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly to pick up a 6-5 advantage.
Ally Jones roped a ball into the outfield for a base hit with one down, then Sebastian walked to make it two runners on with an out to go but it wasn't to be for the Wildcats as a strikeout ended the chance.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will head a bit north of Georgia next weekend, taking part in James Madison's Weiler Orthodontics Invitational in Virginia. Villanova will play five games across the three days against George Mason, Lehigh and the host Dukes.
