PHILADELPHIA- The University of Pennsylvania softball team took down the top team in the Big East Wednesday afternoon at Penn Park, with a 4-1 win over Villanova.
The Quakers went off four three runs at the bottom of the third inning, added an insurance run at the bottom of the sixth and were backed by strong pitching from all four arms in the circle.
FINAL: Penn 4, Villanova 1
Across two and a half innings, the Red and Blue had two hits, while Villanova had just one. At the bottom of the third, Chloe Lesko and Brianna Brown drew back-to-back walks to start the frame, setting up Dana Anderson with no outs. Anderson singled to right field, scoring Lesko and moving Brown to third. Sammy Fenton then grounded out to the short stop, allowing Brown to cross the plate, advancing Jade Montgomery (who pinch ran for Anderson), to second. Dakota Farmer had a productive out, as her grounder to short, pushed Montgomery to third. With two outs, Katie Reagan deposited a single up the middle, easily scoring Montgomery. After three complete, the Quakers led, 3-0.
Payton Bean took over for Rachel Riley at the top of the fourth. After giving up a leadoff single to Ava Franz, Bean struck out two consecutive batters to put two away. Although Bean walked a batter to put two on, Bean collected his third strikeout of the frame to end the threat.
In the top of the fifth, Olivia Szewczyk entered the game as the second reliever. After back-to-back one-out singles, a fly out moved runners to first and third, once again bringing up the potential tying run. Szewczyk then got Franz to fly out to right to strand a pair of Wildcats.
Kelly Zybura took over in the circle for Penn in the top of the sixth, and with one out Brooklyn Ostrowski homered to left field to get Villanova on the board. Zybura surrendered a single and a walk throughout the inning, eventually putting two on with two away. The sophomore induced a grounder to shortstop, fielded cleanly by Fenton, to prevent further damage.
With one out at the bottom of the sixth, Blake Landow sent one in the right center gap, landing at third with a triple. On a 2-1 count, while pinch hitting, Dani Freer laid down a sacrifice bunt towards the first base side, scoring Landow, making the game 4-1.
With Zybura in the game to close out, she walked Elaina Wagner as the first batter she faced at the top of the seventh. With one out, Franz singled to left, bringing the tying run to the plate. Zybura got a pop out and ground out to end the game, as Penn downed Villanova, 4-1.
Quaker Notemeal
- Anderson, Fenton, Farmer, Reagan, Jillian Kuntze and Landow all had hits for the Quakers.
- Anderson, Fenton, Reagan, and Freer drove in runs for Penn.
- Bean earned his third win of the season, tossing one inning, giving up just one hit and striking out three.
- Starting pitcher, Riley tossed three scoreless innings, surrendering one hit, and striking out one.
- In relief Szewczyk threw one inning and gave up two hits. Zybura secured his second save of the season, with two innings of one-run work.
Up Next
The Quakers will round out their home games with a three-game set against Dartmouth this weekend. The Red and Blue will open the series with a doubleheader beginning at 12:30 pm on Saturday at Penn Park, and will conclude with a single game on Sunday scheduled for 12:30 pm
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