VILLANOVA, Pa.—Head coach Bridget Orchard notched her 800^th career win in the first game of a doubleheader and senior pitcher Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) pitched her second shutout this week as Villanova (4-7) defeated Hofstra (1-2) by a final score of 6-0 at the Villanova Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon. The long-awaited home opener for the Wildcats was a memorable one as Orchard reached 800 career wins in her 24^th season as a collegiate head coach.
 
Orchard, a product of the Villanova program and a 1997 graduate, is in her third season as head coach at her alma mater after previous stints at Cabrini and Fordham. She was 129-42-2 in four years at Cabrini and 624-378-1 over 17 seasons at Fordham prior to succeeding her own former collegiate coach Maria DiBernardi as Wildcats head coach following the 2018 season. Villanova swept Saturday's doubleheader with a 9-8 walk-off win in the nightcap, giving Orchard a 48-44 record with the Wildcats and a career mark of 801-464-3 (.633) through the close of play on Saturday evening.
 
Villanova showcased the strengths of its roster in the 6-0 victory, including Rauch (3-2, 4.64 ERA) pitching a four-hit shutout with nine strikeouts and junior Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) hitting her fifth home run of the season on a solo shot to left-center in the fourth inning. Henry was 2-for-2 with, Rauch also had two hits and sophomore third baseman Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) drove in two runs.
 
Aggressive base running in the bottom of the second inning helped the Wildcats score the first run of the game and take a lead that would never be threatened. Senior left fielder Julia DaCosta (North Attleboro, Mass.) led off with a single and Henry was hit by a pitch to set the table with two on and nobody out. The runners moved up to second and third with one away on a groundout up the first base line, bringing Smith up to the plate.
 
Smith chopped a ball to first base and the throw came home to get DaCosta at the plate for the second out of the inning. That should have resulted in runners at the corners with one away, but Smith broke from first base with the purpose of drawing a throw to second. The plan worked, with junior Sydney Hayes (Douglassville, Pa.) running for Henry as the team's flex player and scampering home from third just ahead of a throw to the plate.
 
Senior second baseman Angela Giampolo (East Windsor, N.J.) doubled with one out in the bottom of the third inning and scored on a two-out error, while Henry's solo shot to left-center in the home half of the fourth extended the lead to 3-0. Villanova put the game out of reach with a three-run sixth inning. Smith delivered an RBI single, sophomore catcher Ally Jones (Brielle, N.J.) scored on a wild pitch and the Wildcats executed a successful double steal with sophomore right fielder Dani Dabroski (Cedar Grove, N.J.) stealing second and Smith stealing home later in the inning.
 
Rauch scattered four singles and three walks in her eighth career shutout, including six for the Wildcats and two during her freshman year at Fordham. She worked around a leadoff single in the first inning, then struck out the side in the top of the second. The second inning included an 11-pitch duel with Pride first baseman Angelina Ioppolo who fouled off five two-strike offerings before Rauch finally won the battle with a swinging third strike.
 
The six shutouts for Rauch in a Villanova uniform tie her for the 11^th most in school history. She is also ranked 14^th in the Wildcats record book with 272 strikeouts.