’Swords Softball Swept at Azusa

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 AZUSA, Calif. – Beginning its first and only Mainland road trip of the season, the Chaminade University softball team was swept by Azusa Pacific in a Pacific West Conference doubleheader on Wednesday, 3-1 and 8-0 in five innings.
 
The losses extended the Silverswords' losing streak to seven games, their longest in two years, as they fell to 7-15 overall and 6-12 in the PacWest. The Cougars maintained their hold of third place in the PacWest, improving to 24-11 and 12-8.
 
Ashley Phelps, Aja Keyes and Kaleen Terayama each had two hits for Chaminade during the twinbill.
 
 
Game 1
The Silverswords had numerous opportunities to jump all over APU starter Destinee Levesque early. Levesque's wildness led to five walks in the first four innings as the 'Swords had runners in scoring position in each of the first five frames. They also had a runner at third in the first and third innings. But Levesque got inning-ending strikeouts in four of them as the 'Swords came away empty-handed.
 
Meanwhile, Chaminade starter Brett Aspel was cruising through the APU lineup, retiring nine of the first 10 batters she faced. But in the bottom of the fifth, she ran into trouble as the Cougars opened with four consecutive base hits, including Madison Hernandez's RBI single to plate the game's first run as APU loaded the bases with no outs. Janelle Eccles tacked on a second run in the frame when her RBI grounder was mishandled at second base.
 
Aspel limited the damage to only those two runs when she got Ranae Chappelle to ground to third baseman Terayama for an inning-ending 5-3 double play.
 
APU then made it 3-0 in the fifth on Nicki Sprague's RBI double to right center.
 
The 'Swords mounted a rally in the seventh as Terayama led off the frame getting Levesque to issue her sixth walk of the game. Two batters later, Phelps got an infield single to put runners at the corners with one out. Samantha Ford, representing the game's tying run, then brought Terayama home for an RBI fielder's choice, but Phelps was out at second on the play. Levesque then ended the game on a groundout.
 
Despite the six free passes, Levesque (7-4) struck out eight and allowed only three hits to earn the win. Aspel's hard-luck season continued as she fell to 3-10 on the year with all but two of the hits she allowed coming in the fifth.
 
Phelps, Keyes and Terayama were the only 'Swords to get base hits, all singles. Katrina Oviedo and Sprague each had two knocks for APU.
 
Game 2
In the first inning, Phelps had a one-out single to center then stole second. Two batters later, Keyes singled to third, but Phelps was thrown out at home trying to score to end the inning.
 
The Cougars threatened in their half of the first, loading the bases off starter Kaitlyn Watanabe with one out. Phelps attempted a pickoff play to first, resulting in Abry Moreno taking off for home. First baseman Theresa Capllonch then fired a perfect strike back to Phelps, nailing Moreno at the plate for the crucial second out. Sona Babayan then grounded out to second to end the inning, keeping the game scoreless.
 
APU broke through in the third with three consecutive one-out singles, the last from Sprague whose hit to right brought home Game 2's first run. The Cougars tacked on four more runs in the inning, but the 'Swords got out of the jam with heads up defense as Eccles was thrown out at second, trying to take second on her RBI fielder's choice. Shortstop Jenn Betian, who made the play on Eccles, then threw out pinch runner Rebecca Dawson at the plate to prevent another run from scoring to end the inning. However, APU owned a 5-0 lead.
 
The Cougars got another big inning in the fifth, adding three more runs as Oviedo's RBI single to center ended the game via the run-rule.
 
APU's lefty ace Carly Xepoleas (9-3) earned the win, limiting the 'Swords to four hits and two walks with a strikeout. Watanabe (3-4) was tagged with the loss, allowing 12 hits and two walks. All but two of the eight runs she allowed were earned.
 
Phelps, Keyes, Terayama and Coco Stewart, playing in her first game since March 3 due to injury, each had a hit.
 
Moreno and Oviedo both had three base knocks for the Cougars while Eccles had two RBI.
 
The 'Swords will stay in Azusa for another doubleheader against the Cougars on Thursday starting at 4 p.m. PDT. Pay-per-view video is available on APU's website on this link.