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Box Score 2 WAIPIO, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University softball team came oh-so close to a sweep, but yet the young team remains far from a polished product.
In a make-up of Sunday's rain-out, the Silverswords managed a split of the Wednesday night Pacific West Conference doubleheader against Holy Names at Patsy T. Mink CORP Field, winning the first game, 5-1, behind a brilliant pitching performance from
Brett Aspel, but losing the second, 4-3, in eight innings.
The Hawks ended up taking 3-of-4 games from the 'Swords in the season series, improving to 7-12 overall and 3-3 in the PacWest. The Silverswords fell to 3-3 in both overall and conference play.
In Game 1, the 'Swords found themselves down 1-0 in the third before storming back in the bottom of the fifth.
Elia Lizarraga,
Ashley Phelps and
Samantha Ford opened the frame with back-to-back-to-back base hits.
Aja Keyes then hit a comebacker to the pitcher who went to home to get the force, but the catcher never stepped on the plate as Lizarraga tied the game at 1. The next batter,
Theresa Capllonch, grounded to the second baseman who elected to go home, but Phelps beat the throw to score the go-ahead run. Two batters later,
Kristiann Endow hit a grounder to first, but again, the throw came home, but sailed past the catcher allowing Keyes and Capllonch to score. The 'Swords ended the score-fest two batters later when
Shannan Hokama scored on a wild pitch, giving Chaminade a 5-1 lead.
That would be all Aspel needed, as she tossed the complete game winner, allowing only five hits with a walk and a strikeout. The lone run she allowed was unearned. HNU's Nicole Ochoa took the loss.
Ford finished 3-for-3 at the dish while Lizarraga went 2-for-3 with a walk and run. Chaminade's top of the order of Lizarraga, Phelps and Ford were a combined 6-of-9 with two runs.
In Game 2, it was the Silverswords who struck first. Lizarraga led off the bottom of the first with a walk. A Phelps sacrifice bunt, followed by a wild pitch moved her to third and Ford continued her torrid streak at the plate, singling toward the right side to plate Lizarraga. After Keyes' infield hit,
Ciana Russ singled through the hole on the left side, allowing Ford to scamper home, giving CUH a 2-0 lead.
But Holy Names would take a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Ariana Marquez hit a two-out sinking liner to left. Hokama dove for the ball, but it went under her glove, allowing the two runs to score. Marquez would later score the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. HNU threatened to add more, but
Chelsea Camello would relive starter
Kaitlyn Watanabe and despite runners at the corners, induced a fly out to end the inning.
The youthful Silverswords dug deep in the sixth. Ford singled and stole second. Two batters later, Russ hit a towering fly ball to deep right. Courtney Tarbat, in a full-sprint retreat, knocked the ball down at the base of the fence. That allowed Ford to score the tying run, putting Russ at third with a triple with one out. Kayla Simonson came in to relive starter Vanessa Pulido and extinguished the threat with a strikeout and fly out.
Aspel relived Camello in the seventh and retired the side in order. In the Chaminade seventh, the Silverswords had a two-out rally with back-to-back singles from Lizarraga and Phelps. Again, Simonson got out of the jam as Lizarraga was retired at third on Ford's hopper to short, sending the game into extra innings.
The Hawks plated the go-ahead run in the eighth on Lyndsey Odom-Sizemore's single, taking a 4-3 lead.
In the Chaminade eighth, second baseman Kaeli Hunyady stole a base hit from lead-off hitter, Keyes, stretching out to make an over-the-shoulder catch in shallow right-center. Simonson would then end the game, getting a strikeout and a ground out.
Simonson got the win, pitching 2.2 innings of relief, allowing no runs on two hits and three strikeouts. Despite taking the loss, Apsel (2-2) didn't allow an earned run, dropping her ERA to 3.36 on the season.
Again, the Silverswords' top of the order shined with Lizarraga, Phelps, Ford and Russ notching two hits each. Russ also had two RBI. Chaminade's 1-5 hitters were 9-of-17.
By going 2-for-3 in Game 2 and 5-for-6 combined, Ford raised her batting average to .600 on the season, taking over the conference batting lead over Hawai'i-Hilo's Rebecca Lee (.589), the reigning PacWest Player of the Year and 2014 PacWest Preseason Player of the Year.
Chaminade concludes a whirlwind week on Thursday when they host Notre Dame de Namur in a conference doubleheader at CORP Field, the fourth consecutive day of competition for the Silverswords. First pitch of Game 1 is set for 4:30 p.m. with streaming audio available on goswords.com.
