CHICAGO, Ill. – Another BIG EAST series has been captured by the Villanova Wildcats as VU softball took game two of the series against DePaul 8-2 on Saturday afternoon.

Lilly St. Jean and Ava Franz each contributed two hits and three runs batted in for Villanova (24-18, 15-2 BIG EAST), while Brooklyn Ostrowski and Kelsey White blasted two straight solo shots in the second inning.

Kat Gallant received her fifth victory of the year after four strikeouts in her four innings with Caroline Pellicano tossing three frames of scoreless relief.

The 'Cats got the scoring started right away with free passes for Tess Cites, Ally Jones and St. Jean in the opening inning before Franz singled up the middle for a one-run edge.

Frame two is when Villanova provided the thump, using back-to-back leadoff jacks from Ostrowski and White to chase the DPU starter and go ahead 3-0. Elizabeth Gray and Jones both walked before St. Jean singled and Franz tripled to plate a total of five in the inning 

St. Jean delivered again in the fourth, following up a Cites leadoff single with a well-hit base knock through the middle for a 7-0 edge.

DePaul answered with its first runs of the weekend on a two-out fourth frame triple to turn it into a five-run situation. 

To no surprise, it was St. Jean coming through again for VU in the sixth by striping one into center that glanced off a glove to score Jones from first. 

Pellicano worked through baserunners in both the fifth and sixth for scoreless stanzas then retired the Blue Demons in order with three groundouts in the seventh, delivering a fifth BIG EAST series victory.

UP NEXT: The series finale is set for Cacciatore Stadium on Saturday afternoon as first pitch is due for 1:00 p.m. ET (12 CT).