TAMPA, Fla. – The Villanova Wildcats used a good eye at the plate and some clutch base hits to register their second run-rule victory on Saturday, taking down Georgia Southern 13-3 at USF Softball Stadium.
Chloe Smith contributed a three-RBI, two-hit evening for Villanova (7-9), while Tess Cites reached base three times on a pair of base knocks and a walk. Ava Franz and Ally Jones each scored thrice on the night as the team drew eight total walks and got hit by three pitches.
Kelsey White picked up the win in the circle after striking out four in three innings of work. Caroline Pellicano threw one frame of scoreless relief and Maranda Runco finished out the ballgame on the rubber with a flawless stanza including her first career strikeouts.
White started out her second win of the year by keeping the Eagles off the board in the opening frame, working through a pair of walks to blank Georgia Southern in the first.
Cites rifled a single into left field then was replaced on first by Franz on a fielder's choice before Jones smacked one through the left side to put two aboard. A wild pitch moved both Franz and Jones up a bag, then it was Smith coming through with a rocket into the left-center gap for a two-RBI double.
Georgia Southern took their only advantage of the game in the second, stringing together a walk and an infield single before an ensuing 0-1 pitch was sent over the wall for a 3-2 edge.
It was a marathon third inning for the Wildcats who nearly batted around twice with an 11-run frame. Villanova led it off with ducks on the pond as Cites shot a single past the shortstop followed by Franz and Jones walks to set up another chance for Smith. The California kid put a ball just over an infielder's head for an RBI base knock, leveling the game at three-all.
Brooklyn Ostrowski then took one for the team, taking a pitch off the body to score Franz and grant VU another lead. Elaina Wagner kept the train moving with a five-pitch RBI walk before a Georgia Southern pitching change with the 'Cats ahead 5-3.
Smith crossed the plate on a passed ball, White drew a walk then Grace Reed got hit by a pitch to bring another home. Maddie Burrows drove in a run on the next pitch with a grounder to the shortstop, delivering the first out in a five-run inning to that point.
Cites, Franz, Jones and Ostrowski all walked with three runs coming home in that stretch, then Elaina Wagner singled back up the middle for a two-RBI base knock to grant Villanova a 13-3 lead after an 11-run frame.
Neither squad was able to get on the scoreboard in the fourth as Pellicano worked through a pair of baserunners. In the fifth, Runco made her way into the circle for her second time as a Wildcat and shut down Georgia Southern, generating a pair of strikeouts for the first scoreless inning of her career.
With the win, Villanova picks up their first ever victory over the Eagles and moves closer to .500 all-time against GSU with a 1-2 record in the series.
UP NEXT: Just one contest awaits the Wildcats on Sunday, taking on Florida Gulf Coast at 5 p.m. from USF Softball Stadium before a Monday afternoon doubleheader against the host Bulls.
