PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Senior shortstop Megan Kern (Royersford, Pa.) had the only two hits of the game for Villanova (25-19, 12-4 BIG EAST) but one of them was a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth inning that lifted the Wildcats to their 11^th consecutive victory with a 1-0 decision over Providence (23-16, 9-8 BIG EAST) at Glay Field on Saturday afternoon. Senior starting pitcher Sara Kennedy (Newtown, Conn.) and sophomore reliever Caroline Pellicano (Norristown, Pa.) combined on a seven-hit shutout which extended the team's winning streak into a tie for the third longest in program history.
 
Villanova had its hands full against Friars pitcher Tori Grifone (10-8, 2.74 ERA), who struck out 11 in a two-hitter. She issued two of her three walks in the top of the second inning but had retired nine of the first 11 batters to face her when Kern led off the top of the fourth and hit a 1-1 pitch to left field for her eighth home run of the season. Grifone bounced back strong after the home run, striking out four straight batters and retiring seven in a row overall until a one-out walk in the sixth inning.
 
Kennedy (6-6, 3.04 ERA) continued her mastery of BIG EAST batters however, and was up to the challenge of shutting down the Providence lineup. She scattered six hits and walked two over 6 1/3 innings while striking out five. Kennedy now leads the Wildcats pitching staff with a 1.73 ERA in conference play this season. Over the last two years she has gone 8-2 with a 1.78 ERA spanning 51.0 innings over 12 appearances (eight starts) against BIG EAST teams.
 
Not a traditional strikeout pitcher, Kennedy set a tone for the day when she worked around a single and a walk with three strikeouts in the bottom of the second inning. She made her biggest pitches in the third and fifth innings to escape jams unscathed. A pair of one-out singles in the bottom of the third gave the Friars a scoring chance, while a two-out walk loaded the bases before Kennedy got Lauren Nunez to groundout to third for the final out. In the fifth inning, Providence leadoff batter Jacque Harrington doubled off the top of the center field fence to set up the chance for a Friars rally. Kennedy got Lea Kosinski to line out to first, then struck out Rachel Petrarca and got Grifone to fly out to right on one pitch.
 
The best scoring chance for Villanova outside of Kern's home run came in the sixth inning when graduate first baseman Paige Rauch (Windsor, N.Y.) walked with one out and Kern followed with a long double down the left field line. She leads the team with 21 extra-base hits (13 doubles, eight home runs) and a .597 slugging percentage on the year. Kern moved into the top-15 in school history with 32 career doubles with her hit in the sixth inning. It put runners at second and third with one away, but Grifone got a called third strike for the second out and a long fly ball by graduate second baseman Angela Giampolo (East Windsor, N.Y.) to deep left field was hauled in on the warning track to end the scoring threat.
 
Kennedy struck out the leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh inning before Elysia Cunnigan lined a single to center field. That was when Pellicano entered for her 17^th appearance and 14^th relief outing of the season. She got Harrington out on a fielder's choice with junior third baseman Chloe Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) making a nice stab on an in-between hop to her left and getting the force-out at second base. Kosinski singled to move the potential tying run into scoring position and represent the potential winning run at first base, but Pellicano struck out Rachel Petrarca to end the game and strand the cleanup hitter Grifone on deck.
 
Villanova continues to fire on all cylinders during its 11-game winning streak, which matches a streak from last season and one from 2003 as the third-longest in school history. During the current 11-game run the Wildcats have averaged 7.3 runs per game while batting .325 with 44 extra-base hits and a .588 team slugging percentage. On the flip side, Villanova has held opponents to a .213 batting average and pitched to a 1.79 ERA during the streak. This season marks the 20^th time in the program's 46-year varsity history that the Wildcats have won at least 25 games in a season, including each of the last six full seasons dating back to 2016 (only 27 games were played during the truncated 2020 season).
 
The series finale between Villanova and Providence is scheduled for 12 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.