STANFORD, Calif. – The Villanova Wildcats picked up a Power Five win on Saturday afternoon, taking down the California Golden Bears 6-2 in the opening game of the day at Stanford.
Chloe Smith delivered the big blow for Villanova (8-10) in the program's first-ever victory over a Pac-12 team, striking a grand slam in the opening inning. Tess Cites added two hits and two RBIs, while Kelsey White earned the win after allowing just three hits and two unearned runs in 4.1 innings.
The Wildcats came out firing in the early going, with Cites lining a single over the third baseman and White coming within a foot of a two-run homer, but the ball bounced off the top of the wall and resulted in a double. Ryan Henry worked a two-out walk, which brought up Smith, a native of nearby Sacramento.
The senior belted the opening pitch of her at bat into deep left field, clearing the fence for a bases-clearing bomb to put VU up 4-0 in the opening frame.
Cal got a run back in the second stanza as the leadoff hitter reached on an error, then a single scored her from second. On the ensuing play, the batter laced a pitch into right field, and Sydney Hayes picked up the grounder and fired the ball to third base, beating the runner by multiple steps to prevent a runner on third with no outs.
With the rain continuing to worsen, White headed out to the hill for the fourth frame and battled through the elements to get out of it unscathed despite a baserunner reaching second.
The umpires decided to suspend the game at 11:40 a.m. after that half inning, and the teams spent over an hour away from the field before the matchup resumed at 1:05 Pacific.
Ava Franz and Dani Dabroski both walked to give the 'Cats two runners aboard with two outs in the fourth, then Cites ripped a pitch into left center for a double that scored Franz from second and Dabroski from first to make the score 6-1.
California took one of those tallies back in the fifth, putting together a walk and a fielder's choice before a single to center field brought a run home. But quick thinking by Cites to get the ball in quickly forced a rundown for the Wildcats to get the third out.
Kat Gallant came on in relief of White in that frame and continued through the end of the contest, shutting down the Cal hitters and securing the win for the 'Cats.
The victory marks Villanova's first ever over California and VU will be looking to add to that edge tomorrow in Berkeley.
UP NEXT: Villanova has one game remaining on Saturday, going up against Stanford for the second time in as many days at 6:30 Eastern/3:30 Pacific.
