NEWARK, Del.—Senior starting pitcher Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) walked none and struck out nine over six innings but Villanova (26-11) was shut out for the second time this season in a 1-0 loss to Delaware (20-6) at the Delaware Softball Diamond on Wednesday afternoon. Both teams had just four hits in a good pitchers' duel, with the only run of the game scoring on a Blue Hens solo home run with two out in the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
Rauch (15-3, 1.82 ERA) had retired the first 11 batters she faced before Brittney Mendoza homered to left-center field on a 1-1 offering. The loss snapped the Wildcats eight-game winning streak and Rauch's own streak of 15 consecutive decisions without a loss, although her 19^th start of the season was nevertheless one of her best of the season. Rauch has walked just 23 batters while striking out 140 in 115 1/3 innings on the year. She retired the side in four of the six innings Delaware batted on Wednesday and had at least one strikeout in each of the first five innings.
 
The only real jam Rauch was in all day came after the Mendoza home run when the Blue Hens loaded the bases with two outs. Brooke Glanden singled up the middle and Karolina Flores lined a single to center before Halle Kisamore hit a fielder's choice which was misplayed and resulted in all three runners being safe. Rauch struck out Chayanna Gallardo on three pitches to avoid any further damage. The only other base runner for the Blue Hens came on a two-out single by Glanden in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Sophomore third baseman Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) had two of the four Villanova hits and raised her batting average to .418 on the year. She lined a hard single to center in the top of the first inning and singled to left in her second at-bat in the third. Sophomore catcher Ally Jones (Brielle, N.J.) doubled and Rauch had a single for the Wildcats only other hits.
 
The best scoring chances for Villanova came over the final two innings against Delaware freshman starting pitcher Delani Sheehan (5-2, 2.89 ERA). Rauch led off the sixth inning with a single to center to extend her hitting streak to eight games and her career-best streak of reaching base safely to 20 straight games. Junior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) walked with two outs, but Sheehan stranded the two runners to end the inning.
 
Jones batted in the seventh inning with the Wildcats down to their final two outs and doubled to the base of the wall in right-center field. Junior pinch runner Erin Gray (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) ran for Jones but never advanced past second base as Sheen retired the final two batters of the games. Jones was 1-2 with a walk on the day, with her fifth inning base on balls the 15^th time she has walked on a full count this season.
 
It looked like Villanova would manufacture a scoring chance in the second inning when junior Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) was hit by a pitch with one out, but a line drive back to the circle by Jones was snared by Sheehan who started an inning-ending double play.
 
Wednesday's contest and the pitchers' duel that developed made for an enticing midweek matchup of two teams who have each played well this season. Both the Wildcats (No. 26) and the Blue Hens (No. 28) were in the top-30 of this week's RPI which was released on Tuesday morning. Villanova leads the all-time series against Delaware by a 42-25-1 margin despite the loss. The teams first played each other in 1983 and have met at least once in all but five seasons since then.
 
Villanova will be back at home on Thursday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. for a single game against Princeton.