HPU Sweeps ’Swords Softball

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WAIPIO, Hawai'i – Round 1 of the Honolulu NCAA Division II softball bragging rights goes to Hawai'i Pacific.
 
The Sea Warriors used a timely hitting and pitching, sweeping a Pacific West Conference doubleheader from Chaminade University Saturday afternoon at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park, 8-3 and 7-6.
 
Kristin Caskey went 4-for-7 with four RBI for HPU (13-11, 13-15 PacWest) in the twinbill and was the winning pitcher in the second game. Of the Sea Warriors' 15 combined runs, nine came with two outs.
 
Catcher Ashley Phelps was 6-for-7 at the plate with a run scored for Chaminade (7-13, 6-10) during the doubleheader, raising her batting average to .375 on the season. First baseman/designated player Aja Keyes was also solid at the dish, going 5-for-8 with two RBI and three runs, also upping her average to .354 along with a team-leading 14 RBI on the year.
 
The losses extended the 'Swords' losing streak to five heading into their only Mainland trip, and toughest stretch of PacWest games, next week.
 
 
Game 1
HPU didn't waste any time, jumping on starter Brett Aspel in the first inning on a two-run, two-out single by Dorian Acierto, then added single runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings.
 
The Silverswords finally got on the board in their half of the fifth. Kaleen Terayama led off with a walk. Sierra Mendiola, a former Sea Warrior who transferred to CUH last year, then laid down a perfect bunt single between the pitcher and catcher, her first base hit as a 'Sword. Phelps walked to load the bases, leading to Samantha Ford's sacrifice fly to left, bringing Terayama home, making it 5-1.
 
HPU took a seemingly comfortable 8-1 lead with three runs in the sixth, but not before the 'Swords made some noise in the seventh.
 
Ford laced a two-out ground-rule double to left center, followed by Keyes' single to center, moving Ford to third. Ciana Russ then smacked a fly ball off the right centerfield fence, allowing Ford and Keyes to score, making it 8-3. But starter Chandell Dacosin induced a fly out to end the game.
 
The Silverswords managed to get 10 hits off of Dacosin, who got the win to improve to 8-4, but left six runners stranded in scoring position. Aspel (3-9) got another tough-luck loss, lasting only two innings, allowing three runs, with four hits, but walked four.
 
Phelps went 2-for-3 while Keyes and Russ also had two hits each.
 
Caskey was 2-for-4 with three RBI for the visitors while Dacosin helped her own cause, going 2-for-3 with a run. Six of HPU's runs came with two outs.
 
 
Game 2
The second game was a see-saw affair that started off in similar fashion to the first as HPU plated two runs in opening inning. This time, Chaminade would have an answer, leading off their half of the frame with Phelps' one-out single. She then stole second and got to third on a passed ball. Keyes then doubled past Dacosin in right field, allowing Phelps to trot home.
 
The Silverswords then took a 3-2 lead in the second as Jenn Betian was plunked on the inning's first pitch from Caskey. Theresa Capllonch then doubled to left center, putting Betian at third with no outs. Caskey then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Betian to score the tying run at 2. Two batters later, freshman third baseman Nicole Erichsen gave CUH a 3-2 lead when she ripped a double over the head of Dacosin in right, scoring Capllonch. Phelps then hit a two-out single to center, but Erichsen, trying to score on the play from second, was called out at home.
 
The Sea Warriors regained the lead in the third with a trio of runs, making it 5-3, but CUH got a run back in the bottom of the third on a double by Keyes and another two-bagger from Betian, which allowed Keyes to score.
 
In the bottom half of the fifth, the 'Swords jumped back ahead. Ford got on board on a fielder's choice, then Keyes got her third extra base hit of the game when her sinking liner went past a sliding Dacosin in right, rolling all the way to the corner, easily bringing Ford home for the tying run as Keyes cruised into third for a triple. Keyes herself would get a 6-5 lead for Chaminade on a passed ball.
 
HPU tied it at 6 in the sixth, but CUH prevented even more when Russ, playing in left field for the first time this season, fired a perfect strike on Sharae Esprecion's single, nailing Chelsea Cramer at the plate to end the inning.
 
The Sea Warriors then took a 7-6 lead in the seventh when Charisse Tanabe, a .203 hitter entering the at-bat, singled up the middle with two outs for her only hit of the day, scoring Dacosin, but another outfield assist, this time from center fielder Elia Lizarraga, nailed Acierto at the plate to end the inning. It was Lizarraga's second center-to-home putout on the day, getting one earlier in Game 1, and the Silverswords' third outfield assist at home plate in the twinbill.
 
Chaminade then threatened in the seventh when Phelps singled to left, her fourth base hit of Game 2. After Ford sacrificed her to second, Keyes stepped up representing the winning run, but rolled over a 2-0 pitch to shortstop. Caskey, the PacWest Preseason Pitcher of the Year, then got Russ to hit a soft liner to shortstop to end the game and quell the final CUH threat.
 
Chaminade again managed 10 hits, but was thwarted by stranding four runners in scoring position. Caskey (5-10) allowed all six runs, five earned. Again, two-out hitting was vital for the Sea Warriors, as three of their runs came with two outs.
 
Kaitlyn Watanabe dropped her third straight decision, falling to 3-3, allowing seven runs – six earned – 10 hits and six walks with a pair of strikeouts. It was her first career PacWest loss at home to HPU, having gone 2-0 with a 2.17 ERA in her two previous conference games at CORP Field against the Sea Warriors.
 
Chaminade departs for the first and only Mainland road trip of the season when they face Azusa Pacific for a four-game series starting Wednesday, followed by back-to-back series at nationally-ranked foes in No. 3 California Baptist and 25-ranked Dixie State.