SALEM, Va. – Villanova softball picked up a win and a loss in a pair of neutral site games at the Hokie Invite on Saturday afternoon.
The ‘Cats earned a 9-0 five-inning victory over Robert Morris to start the day, then fell 7-3 to Radford to make it a 1-1 split for Villanova (7-10).
GAME ONE
The first contest was a display of power for the entire Wildcat lineup, totaling 12 hits and season-high three homers in a 9-0 victory over Robert Morris.
It was a banner outing for the Ostrowski sisters in game one when Brooklyn Ostrowski totaled a three-hit, two-run game with a double and homer while Madison Ostrowski contributed a pair of hits and runs with her first career triple.
Ava Franz added a three-hit outing with a pair of extra-base knocks as Jaclyn Morra hit a grand slam for her first collegiate bomb and Grace Reed delivered a two-run dinger for her first of 2025.
Kelsey White twirled a gem in the circle, coming through with a two-hit, five-strikeout shutout with no walks for her first win of the season.
White retired the Colonials 1-2-3 in each of the game’s first three innings, which allowed the lineup to make their presence felt.
The ‘Cats got leadoff doubles into left-center in both frames from veterans Franz and the elder Ostrowski. With Brooklyn in scoring position, Reed went yard to grant her side an early 2-0 advantage with her first dinger of the season.
Elaina Wagner followed with a scorched single off the wall, Madi Ostrowski lined a base knock of her own into left and Franz beat out a grounder for bases loaded with one down.
A walk scored one before Morra teed off, belting her first collegiate bomb with a grand slam for a 7-0 edge after a six-hit second.
It was a rare back-to-back triple moment in the third for the Wildcats as the younger Ostrowski laced one into right field for a one-out baserunner then Franz brought her home on a three-bagger for an 8-0 advantage.
White’s perfect game bid came to an end on an RMU leadoff single in the fourth, but the senior sent the next three down to keep the Colonials off the board.
The Ostrowski sisters’ day got even better in the home half of that frame, as Brooklyn notched her first homer of 2025 on a solo round-tripper for a 9-0 lead.
White went back out looking to close things for VU and expertly worked around a leadoff triple, striking out the next two batters and inducing a groundout to deliver Villanova’s first run-rule victory of 2025.
GAME TWO
Villanova kept that momentum up early in game two, scoring first but ultimately falling 7-3 to Radford to move back to even this weekend.
Maddie Burrows drove in a pair of runs on her first homer this season, while Ava Mahnken drove in the other with a seventh-inning RBI double.
Lexi Kobryn took the loss after 4.2 innings of starting work in the circle with Maranda Runco tossing two-plus frames of relief.
With both pitchers working around one baserunner in each frame to that point, it wasn’t until the third inning that the Wildcats got the scoring started. Madi Ostrowski reached on a single before Burrows got both of them across the dish on an inside-the-park homer, putting VU ahead 2-0.
Radford responded with a six-run fifth inning, using five hits and a pair of walks to take a commanding lead. The Highlanders added another in the sixth to advance the edge to 7-2 heading into the final stanza.
Villanova didn’t go down without a fight as Wagner led off with a double before Mahnken brought her home on a two-bagger of her own, but three straight balls in the air were caught and the Wildcats suffered a 7-3 defeat.
UP NEXT: One final game awaits the Wildcats at the Moyer Sports Complex, taking on a fellow Keystone Stater in the Penn State Nittany Lions on Sunday, now at 1:00 p.m. due to cold temperatures expected in the morning.