LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Feb. 22, 2020)-The Lady Bears suffered their first loss of the weekend, falling to Villanova, 5-0 on Saturday afternoon at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex.
 
After scoring a combined 20 runs on 20 hits in two wins on Friday, the Lady Bears' offense was held scoreless on four hits against the Wildcats, as their two-game winning streak came to an end.
 
Villanova (8-5) scored five runs on six hits. Chloe Smith went 1-for-2 with a run scored and had a game-high 2 RBI. Caroline Jones was also 1-for-2 with a run, RBI and a walk.
 
Behind the pitching and defense from both teams, a no-hitter bid was brewing on both sides. Morgan State's Aliya Ewell broke the no-hit bid of Villanova's Paige Rauch when she singled to left field in the top of the fourth inning. Rauch would then strikeout the next two Lady Bears to get out the inning.
 
Villanova returned the favor in the bottom half of the fourth, when M Kern singled to left field to break up the no-hit by of Morgan State pitcher Stephanie Rundlett (1-4). That would be the only damage in the inning.
 
Despite both teams recording a hit each in the fourth inning, the game still remained scoreless heading into the fifth.
 
The Wildcats broke a scoreless game when they finally broke through with three runs. Rauch helped herself out when she doubled to left centerfield to score Angela Giampolo for the game's first run. Smith homered to also score Rauch to give Villanova a 3-0 lead.
 
The Wildcats went back to work in the sixth inning, adding two more runs off back-to-back solo homers by Sydney Hayes and Jones to make it a 5-0 game.
 
Rauch improved to 7-0 with the win. She surrendered three hits through six innings of work, while throwing a game-high 12 strikeouts.
 
Aliya Ewell, Deborah Hamilton, Meikel Turner and Jalian Young each recorded a hit for Morgan State, which fell to 2-5.
 
The Lady Bears close out Day 2 this afternoon against Troy at 3:30 p.m.