HARRISONBURG, Va. – Villanova softball opened the Weiler Orthodontics Invitational with a heartbreaking loss, falling on a walk-off grand slam to the host James Madison Dukes 8-5 on Friday.
Madison Ostrowski provided two runs and a pair of RBIs for Villanova (2-4), blasting her first career home run in the sixth to give VU its lone advantage of the ballgame. Tess Cites reached base three times in the game with a single, walk and hit by pitch while Ava Franz added a pair of runs batted in.
Caroline Pellicano went five innings in her third start of the year for the 'Cats, striking out three while facing 28 total batters. Kat Gallant received the loss after tossing 1.1 frames with a trio of Ks on the afternoon.
James Madison took an early advantage in the ballgame, using a walk, infield single and consecutive bloops into right and left field to bring a pair of runners across the plate before an infield error allowed the hosts to go up 3-0 after one.
Villanova answered right away in the second, tying the contest as most of the action came with two outs. Victoria Sebastian led off the inning with a single up the middle, then Ally Jones earned a walk. Two outs followed that up, but Ostrowski walked to load the bases before Cites took a pitch off her body to plate Sebastian. Franz then delivered in an 0-2 count, singling into center for a two-RBI base knock as Ostrowski slid under the tag to make it a 3-3 game.
The top of JMU's lineup came through in the bottom of the fourth, putting up three straight base hits to re-take the lead at 4-3.
Chloe Smith walked on four pitches with one down in the visiting half of the sixth, then was pinch run for by Alexa Raphael who swiped second shortly after. It was the younger of the Ostrowski sisters providing the boom for the 'Cats, as Madison belted her first career home run in the visiting half of the sixth to grant Villanova its first advantage of the game.
Gallant came on looking to preserve that lead, succeeding at first by delivering a scoreless sixth. Following a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, James Madison made things interesting by loading the bases on a single, double and hit by pitch. It was a walkoff grand slam winning the game for the Dukes, granting JMU an 8-5 victory to begin the tournament.
UP NEXT: Villanova plays another game on Friday, taking part in the nightcap of the Weiler Orthodontics Invitational with a bout against reigning Atlantic 10 champion George Mason at 6:30 p.m. from Veterans Memorial Park.
