Box Score WAIPIO, HI - Chaminade went toe-to-toe with Pac West leader and one of the top hitting teams in Grand Canyon, but lost both games of a conference doubleheader, 3-2 in Game 1, and an identical score in Game 2, which went eight innings at Corp Field at Central Oahu Regional Park. CUH fell to 6-12 overall and 2-6 in the Pac West, while GCU improved to 21-6 and 9-1.
In the first game, the Antelopes scored the game's first three runs, with one each in the first, third and fifth innings. The Silverswords responded in the home half of the fifth when
Shannan Hokama (Torrance, Calif./South) delivered a clutch 2-run single, bringing home
Letisha Vaba (Stockton, Calif.) and
Samantha Ford (Honolulu, HI/Word of Life) and advancing
Ashley Phelps (Torrance, Calif./South) to third. However, Phelps would be left stranded at third on a strikeout.
Chaminade would not mount anymore threats the rest of the game, as GCU pitcher Stephanie Pesqueira (9-3) retired the Swords in order in the sixth and seventh innings.
Hokama finished Game 1 going 2-for-3 at the dish with the two RBI. Swords pitcher
Brett Aspel (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) allowed three runs while scattering seven hits in taking the loss, droppin her record to 3-6.
In Game 2, the Lopes scored a pair of unearned runs off
Kaitlyn Watanabe (Kula, HI/Baldwin) in the third to take a 2-0 lead. The Swords answered in the bottom of the fourth when
Tumamaopavaiai Enos (Pahoa, HI/Pahoa) delivered a towering home run to left, her first of the season.
Elia Lizarraga (Torrance, Calif./Narbonne) then walked, was moved up to second on Vaba's sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a Ford single. Phelps would tie the game, driving in Lizarraga on a sacrifice fly to right.
Chaminade had a chance to bring home the go-ahead run in the fifth with back-to-back two out singles by
Aja Keyes (Kaneohe, HI/Lutheran) and Enos. But the Swords grounded out to first to extinguish the threat.
The game would eventually go into extra innings, when Kelsey Barak, the Pac West pre-season Player of the Year, homered to left to lead off the eighth and give the Lopes the win.
Watanabe scattered seven hits and allowed only one earned run in taking the loss and dropping to 3-5 on the season. Kiki Sepulveda, who retired the last 10 CUH batters, picked up the victory, improving to 8-1.
The Swords and Lopes will end their 4-game series on Sunday, with a Pac West doubleheader, beginning at 12 p.m. at Corp Field.
