STORRS, Conn.—In its first game of the 2021 BIG EAST Championship Presented by JEEP, #2 seed Villanova (32-13) rallied from three runs down with a pair of big hits in the fourth inning but later saw the go-ahead run score with two outs in the top of the seventh inning in a 4-3 loss to #3 seed Connecticut (21-18) at Burrill Family Field on Thursday afternoon. The loss set up an unexpected elimination game between the top two tournament seeds later in the evening. That game, between the Wildcats and #1 seed DePaul, got underway at 6:38 p.m..
 
Senior pitcher Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) walked four times at the top of the lineup, including with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning to force home the first Villanova run of the game. Pitching around Rauch proved to be playing with fire, as senior second baseman Angela Giampolo (East Windsor, N.J.) lined a two-run single just inside the third base bag to bring home two more runs and tie the game at 3-3. Earlier in the contest the Huskies had taken a 3-0 with a pair of two-out hits in the top of the third inning.
 
Giampolo also walked and was hit by a pitch in the game as she and Rauch combined to reach base safely seven times. Despite having just four hits in the contest, the Wildcats drew seven walks and two hit batters to have plenty of traffic on the basepaths. Villanova had at least one base runner in every inning but also left 10 runners on base. Junior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.), junior catcher Ryan Henry (Ramsey, N.J.) and senior first baseman Julia DaCosta (North Attleboro, Mass.) all had hits in the game.
 
The game was tied 3-3 with two outs in the top of the seventh inning after junior pitcher Sara Kennedy (Newtown, Conn.) entered the game and got a pair of quick groundball outs. Samantha Barnett battled Kennedy (6-4, 3.92 ERA) and worked a nine-pitch walk however, and Devon Casazza followed with a run-scoring double to right-center which drove in the eventual game-winning run.
 
Kern led off the bottom of the seventh inning with an infield single before Connecticut pitcher Meghan O'Neil recorded the final three outs to earn her second save of the year. Those outs did not come easily. With Kern at first and one away, sophomore catcher Ally Jones (Brielle, N.J.) skied a 1-0 pitch to deep right-center field which center fielder Aziah James tracked and caught on the run at the base of the wall. DaCosta was the final batter of the game and hit the first pitch she saw sharply but on a line to short for a fielder's choice.
 
After two scoreless innings of play to start the game, the Huskies set the table in the top of the third inning with runners at first and second with one out. Rauch struck out Briana Marcelino for the second out of the inning, bringing Reese Guevarra to the plate. Guevarra swung at the first pitch and hit a soft liner to third which appeared to be caught by sophomore third baseman Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.), but it was ruled that the ball hit the ground first and the bases were loaded with two away. Jana Sanden and Barnett followed with consecutive run-scoring singles as Connecticut took a 3-0 lead.
 
Rauch pitched the first six innings and was charged with three earned runs on six hits while walking three and striking out five.
 
O'Neil started for the Huskies but was lifted for Marybeth Olson after walking Rauch to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Rauch saw 17 pitches and just one strike in four plate appearances to walk four times. In the first 44 years of the Wildcats varsity history, there had been just one instance of a Villanova batter walking four times in a game. Rauch has now done it twice this season, including Thursday's contest with Connecticut and a regular season game against DePaul earlier in the year.
 
The free passes are of course nothing new for Rauch, who broke the Wildcats career record for bases on balls with a four-pitch walk in the bottom of the third inning. She has now walked 87 times in a Villanova uniform and has surpassed the previous record of 84 walks held by Kristi Burlin (2009-12).
 
In the opening game of the conference tournament earlier on Thursday, #4 seed Butler dealt top-seeded DePaul an 8-1 setback. The winner of Thursday evening's elimination game between the Wildcats and Blue Demons will play at 3 p.m. on Friday against the loser of a Friday afternoon contest between Connecticut and Butler.