STANFORD, Calif. – The Villanova Wildcats suffered a 3-0 loss to No. 14 Stanford on Friday evening at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium, splitting the opening day of action in the Golden State.

Kat Gallant earned the loss for Villanova (7-10), allowing just four hits and two runs to the nation's 14th ranked team in three innings. Caroline Pellicano came onto the bump for three innings of work, surrendering only one hit and an unearned run. 

The game's first base runner was a Wildcat, as Ryan Henry was hit by a pitch in the second inning but could not move beyond first base.

Stanford started the scoring in the second stanza, using three consecutive base-hits (two singles and a two-RBI double) to bring a pair of tallies across.

Pellicano relieved Gallant in the fourth frame, tossing a scoreless inning in her first appearance on the hill this weekend.

The Cardinal added to the lead in the fifth, this time utilizing a leadoff single and scoring an unearned run on a groundout plus an error.

Kendall Spivey became VU's second runner aboard in the sixth inning, hitting a hard grounder off the glove of the pitcher and making it to first on the error.

Stanford's freshman pitcher NiJaree Canady threw a no-hitter in the game, striking out 18 in her complete game shutout.

This was the first game played in the all-time series between Villanova and Stanford, so the Cardinal now own a 1-0 edge over VU.

UP NEXT: The 'Cats will play in two contests at Stanford on Saturday, taking on Cal-Berkeley at 1:30 p.m. Eastern then participating in a rematch against the Cardinal that afternoon.