VILLANOVA, Pa. -- The regular season of 2024 softball comes to a close this weekend, with the BIG EAST regular season champion Villanova Wildcats (27-20, 18-3 BIG EAST) hosting a three-game series against the Butler Bulldogs at the Villanova Softball Complex. Due to rain in the forecast for Sunday, the schedule has been revised to a Friday doubleheader at 2:00 and 4:30 p.m. with a single contest still set for Saturday at 12:15 p.m. on the Main Line.

CELEBRATING THE SENIORS    
Saturday marks Villanova's annual Senior Day, where the Wildcats will honor their five-person graduating class: Tess Cites, Brooklyn Ostrowski, Emily Orr, Caroline Pellicano and Alyssa Seidler. This group of seniors has won 133 games and the program's first ever BIG EAST Championships while appearing in six NCAA Tournament games. They've combined for 213 hits, 34 home runs, 287 innings pitched and 248 strikeouts in the circle with 13 BIG EAST All-Academic Team and 28 AD's Honor Roll mentions for work in the classroom.

LILLY'S LEAP AND ELAINA'S EMERGENCE    
Despite all of the returning All-BIG EAST players up and down the lineup, the two most impressive batters for Villanova might have been unexpected for the opposition: Lilly St. Jean and Elaina Wagner. St. Jean has taken her sophomore leap, bouncing back from a .220 freshman season to become the top statistical hitter for the Wildcats. The New Jersey native leads the team in batting average at .352, including a tie with Wagner for the most base knocks in BIG EAST play and a team-best 13 doubles. After scattered playing time through non-conference, St. Jean returned with a five-RBI pinch-hit performance in the Seton Hall opener and hasn't left the four hole since. Wagner might be the Wildcats' best story in 2024, scarcely seeing playing time through her first two years but working her way into one of the squad's best overall hitters. An infielder by trade, the New York native has transitioned into right field after the graduation of two starting outfielders and she's excelled, batting .343 in BIG EAST play and maintaining a 22 game-reached base streak up until last weekend.

CLOSER CAROLINE     
While it isn't a strategy all softball teams use, the Wildcats have determined their path for success in the circle is to get four or five innings out of their starter and then turn things over to their super reliever Pellicano. Entering the weekend in Storrs, Pellicano's name is littered across the pitching record books as the senior owns the most relief appearances and games finished in Villanova history. The next benchmark for the right-hander to reach would be saves, where she currently maintains a tie for the program record with 14 in her career and a career-best seven on the year. The hardest-throwing Wildcat with a nasty offspeed pitch, the Pennsylvania native maintains a .234 BAA and 0.88 ERA in BIG EAST play with just four earned runs. 

BREAKING DOWN THE BULLDOGS

• Butler is in the thick of the playoff hunt, owning a 20-26 overall record but 9-12 in conference play and currently sitting one game out of the postseason. BU (9-12) trails Providence (10-11) by one contest but holds the tiebreaker against the Friars, so they're in need of at least one win on the weekend.
• The Bulldogs have won BIG EAST series against DePaul, Georgetown and Providence, took one from each of Connecticut, Creighton, and Seton Hall and were swept by St. John's. 
• The lineup hasn't been the problem so far for Butler as Paige Dorsett, Ella White and Cate Lehner have all been hitting over .300 for the Bulldogs while Monique Hoosen has belted 11 homers to tie for the league runner-up. 
• Butler has ridden their freshman pitcher Katie Petran, who's been a workhorse with 34 appearances, 25 starts and 153 innings in the circle despite a 4.40 ERA. Rylyn Dyer, Sydney Cammon and Kayla Noerr have all thrown 40-plus innings as well for the Bulldogs.

Live stat links for each of the games this week can be found at villanova.statbroadcast.com, while all three contests will stream on FloSoftball.

Keep up with the Villanova University softball program through social media by following on Twitter (@VUSoftball) and Instagram (@novasoftball) and 'liking' on Facebook (/VUSoftball).