STORRS, Conn. – The 2021 BIG EAST Softball Championship presented by JEEP got off to an exciting start on Thursday at Burrill Family Field at the Connecticut Softball Complex. The tournament’s top two seeds were upset in their opening games as No. 4 seed Butler stunned No. 1 seed DePaul, 8-1, in Game 1, followed by host and No. 3 seed UConn edging No. 2 seed Villanova, 4-3, in Game 2. The top two seeds met in the week’s first elimination game, with the Wildcats erupting for a seven-run seventh inning to eliminate the reigning champion Blue Demons in Game 3 by a final of 9-1.
 
Action continues from UConn’s campus on Friday, beginning with a noon ET meeting between Butler and UConn in Game 4. The loser of that game will face Villanova in Game 5 in the week’s second elimination game. Both of Friday’s games will air live on FS2. Friday’s winners move on to Game 6 at noon on Saturday, also on FS2. The if-necessary game will follow at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday on FS2.
 
Game 1: No. 4 Butler 8, No. 1 DePaul 1
The reigning champion Blue Demons struck first but it was a six-run sixth inning by fourth-seeded Butler which spelled upset for the Bulldogs. Jessica Cothern homered in the first to put DePaul up 1-0 before Christina Candotti evened the score in the second with her own home run. Karli Ricketts gave Butler the lead, 2-1, in the fourth with the third solo home run of the game. After a scoreless fifth for both teams, Butler used the small ball to erupt for six runs in the sixth. An error and a hit by pitch put runners on first and second with no outs. Ricketts then bunted them over. Butler Coach Scott Hall then put back-to-back suicide squeezes in motion with his clean-up hitter Mackenzie Griman as well as Candotti. Both squeezes were successful, which pushed the lead to 4-1. Madi Christiansen then stepped up and throttled one inside the right field foul pole for a three-run home run. Butler pushed across one more run before closing out the inning. Ricketts earned the complete game win in the circle, allowing just four hits and one earned run while striking out five. Natalie Halvorson took the loss for DePaul with 4.2 innings pitched, two strikeouts and two earned runs. Cothern finished with two hits for the Blue Demons, as did Butler’s Candotti and Bri Avery.  
Full Recap | Highlights
 
Game 2: No. 3 UConn 4, No. 2 Villanova 3
Devon Casazza’s RBI double to right center in the top of the seventh clinched the Game 2 win for the Huskies, who scored their first BIG EAST Championship win since 2008. After two scoreless innings, UConn struck first with a three-run third inning as singles by Jana Sanden and Sami Barnett drove in a trio of runs. Villanova countered in the bottom of the fourth with its own three-run spurt as three walks and a hit-by-pitch scored a run before Angela Giampolo singled to drive in a pair of runs. Both teams remained scoreless until Casazza’s double in the seventh to put the Huskies back ahead where they would stay the rest of the way. Payton Kinney picked up her 10th win of the season after tossing 2.1 innings with a trio of strikeouts in relief, while Sara Kennedy was tagged with the loss. Seven different Huskies and four different Wildcats recorded hits on the afternoon, while Barnett and Giampolo each notched two RBI.
Full Recap | Highlights
 
Game 3: No. 2 Villanova 9, No. 1 DePaul 1
A seven-run seventh inning lifted Villanova over reigning champion DePaul in the week’s first elimination game on Thursday evening. Megan Kern belted a grand slam before Ryan Henry launched a three-run homer to turn a 2-1 lead into a 9-1 Wildcat advantage. Kern drove in Villanova’s first run of the game, hitting a sacrifice fly in the first which sent Paige Rauch home after Rauch was walked to open the game. Through two BIG EAST Championship games, Rauch, the BIG EAST Pitcher and Player of the Year, has been walked seven times. She picked up her 18^th win of the season, pitching all seven innings, striking out two and surrendering just one earned run.  DePaul scored that run in the bottom of the first after a trio of singles by Jessica Cothern, Gabby O'Riley and Nicole Sullivan loaded the bases before Brooke Johnson was walked, sending pinch runner Erin Hocker across home plate. Villanova regained the lead in the fifth with Ally Jones sending home Dani Dabroski off a single, before that decisive seventh-inning showing. Krista Dalgarn was credited with the loss for DePaul after 6.2 innings and five strikeouts.
Full Recap | Highlights
 
BIG EAST Softball Championship Presented by JEEP
Burrill Family Field at the Connecticut Softball Complex
DAY 1 – THURSDAY, MAY 13:
Game 1: No. 4 Butler 8, No. 1 DePaul 1– BEDN
Game 2: No. 3 UConn 4, No. 2 Villanova 3 – BEDN
Game 3: No. 2 Villanova 9, No. 1 DePaul 1 – BEDN
DAY 2 – FRIDAY, MAY 14:
Game 4: No. 4 Butler vs. No. 3 UConn, Noon – FS2
Game 5: No. 2 Villanova vs. Loser of Game 4, 3 p.m. – FS2
Day 3 – SATURDAY, May 15:
Game 6: Winners of Game 4 and Game 5, Noon – FS2
Game 7 (if necessary): If Winner of Game 5 wins Game 6, 2:30 p.m. – FS2
All times Eastern
 
Each competing team will be provided a limited number of complimentary tickets. Additional general admission seating will be available on the hill outside of the stadium on a first-come, first-served basis. For more on the BIG EAST Softball Championship, visit Championship Central by clicking HERE.