PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Villanova Wildcats made it five victories in a row with their 4-1 defeat of the Providence Friars on Saturday afternoon.
Chloe Smith reached base four times for Villanova (13-11, 5-0 BIG EAST) with an RBI single and three walks while Brooklyn Ostrowski both scored and batted in a run. Elaina Wagner drove in a run and recorded a single with Lilly St. Jean registering the only other hit for VU on a two-out double in the fourth.
Kelsey White received the win after going 3.1 innings in the circle with two strikeouts and Caroline Pellicano got the save with one-plus frames of scoreless ball. Kat Gallant made the start for the 'Cats, facing eight batters in her two innings with one run allowed.
It was a strong day defensively for the Wildcats to follow up their impressive offensive performance on Friday, this time recording a flawless game of no errors with a career-high six infield assists for Ava Franz and five from Smith.
Both sides went down in three batters to start things out but Ostrowski began the game's scoring in the second inning with some small ball, reaching on a shallow single before moving to the plate on a passed ball, sacrifice fly and Wagner RBI groundout for a 1-0 VU edge.
Providence leveled the contest shortly after with their first run against Villanova this weekend, sending a leadoff solo shot out of the yard for a 1-1 game. Gallant surrendered a follow-up double but stranded that runner on second with a consecutive trio of outs.
Victoria Sebastian led off the third with a walk then with two outs and a runner on second, Smith laced a single into left field and despite being beat to the plate by the throw, Sebastian got her hand around the tag to put the 'Cats ahead 2-1.
White entered in the circle for the following frame and worked through a two-runner situation, inducing a pair of swinging Ks to end the threat.
The Wildcats strung together a two-out Wagner single and St. Jean two-bagger to put a couple runners in scoring position during the fourth, but a strikeout kept the advantage at one run.
Following a couple of 1-2-3 stanzas from White, Pellicano came on and evaded trouble with a pair of groundouts to keep the visitors ahead.
Villanova loaded the bases in its final hacks on a couple walks and an error, then a base on balls got one home before Ostrowski drove another insurance run in with a sacrifice fly to vault VU ahead 4-1.
Pellicano trotted back out for the final three outs of the ballgame and got them, working through a two-out base knock to deliver a 5-0 start to the BIG EAST schedule.
UP NEXT: The 'Cats wrap up the series in Rhode Island on Sunday, streaming on national television for game three of the road trip with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch on FS1.
