Box Score | Highlights | Championship Central
 
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Villanova is atop the BIG EAST again as it was crowned champion of the 2022 BIG EAST Softball Championship presented by JEEP at Parkway Bank Sports Complex, defeating UConn by a score of 3-0. Paige Rauch was named BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player for the second consecutive season, becoming the sixth player in tournament history to win the award twice and the fifth player to win it in consecutive seasons. Rauch did not allow a run in 20 innings of work in the circle while striking out 25 batters and issuing a single walk, and also added two doubles and two runs scored offensively.
 
Villanova becomes just the third BIG EAST champion to not surrender a run in the tournament, joining South Florida in 2013 and UConn in 1990. The title earns the Wildcats the BIG EAST’s automatic bid into the 2022 NCAA Tournament. They will find out their placement in the bracket during the NCAA Selection Show, which will be held on Sunday, May 15 at 7 p.m. ET. on ESPN2.
 
Rauch was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Tess Cites, Chloe Smith and Kelsey White. UConn’s Reese Guevarra, Briana Marcelino and Meghan O’Neil earned All-Tournament recognition, as did Butler’s Alyssa Graves and DePaul’s Sarah Lehman.
 
All three runs on the afternoon crossed the plate in the top of the first inning. Villanova’s Angela Giampolo was hit by the first pitch of the game, and she moved up to second after Rauch was walked. After Smith reached on an error, O’Neil would record a strikeout and a pop out to sit just an out away from escaping the threat unscathed. However, White would lace a single to left field, and a bobble in left would allow all three runs to come across to score.
 
Rauch was once again in cruise control in the circle, allowing just three hits over five innings of work while striking out four. The graduate student would be relieved in the sixth by Sara Kennedy, who needed just six pitches to work through the sixth inning. Kennedy would finish things off in the seventh to earn the save and deliver Villanova its second BIG EAST title in program history.
 
2022 BIG EAST Softball Championship All-Tournament Team
Alyssa Graves, Butler
Reese Guevarra, UConn
Meghan O’Neil, UConn
Briana Marcelino, UConn
Sarah Lehman, DePaul
Tess Cites, Villanova
Paige Rauch, Villanova
Chloe Smith, Villanova
Kelsey White, Villanova
 
Most Outstanding Player: Paige Rauch, Villanova
 
2022 BIG EAST Softball Championship Presented by JEEP
Parkway Bank Sports Complex – Rosemont, Ill.
DAY 1 – THURSDAY, MAY 12:
Game 1: No. 4 DePaul 6, No. 1 UConn 2 (Box Score)
Game 2: No. 3 Villanova 2, No. 2 Butler 0 (Box Score)
Game 3: No. 1 UConn 4, No. 2 Butler 1 (Box Score)

DAY 2 – FRIDAY, MAY 13:
Game 4: No. 3 Villanova 1, No. 4 DePaul 0 (Box Score)
Game 5: No. 1 UConn 6, No. 4 DePaul 2 (Box Score)

Day 3 – SATURDAY, May 14:
Game 6: No. 3 Villanova 3, No. 1 UConn 0 (Box Score)