WAIPAHU, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University softball team opened the 2016 collegiate softball season in the state of Hawai'i by dropping both games of a doubleheader to No. 20 Augustana (South Dakota), 10-2 and 7-4 in nine innings, Saturday at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park.
Freshman second baseman
Rainelle Matsuoka's first collegiate base hit was a solo homer in only her second career at-bat while junior third baseman
Coco Stewart went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the Silverswords' 10-2 loss in Game 1.
Matsuoka and
Jenn Betian each went 2-for-4 in the nightcap as the 'Swords (0-2) scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings, although the Vikings (2-0) rallied for three in the ninth.
Game 1Augustana, a 53-win team which advanced to the NCAA Central Super Regionals last season, put up a five-spot off Chaminade starter
Luana Moreno in the third inning. The big blow was Morgan Beaner's three-run home run, which was preceded by Shannon Peterson's two-run single.
The 'Swords got on the board in the bottom of the frame when lead-off batter
Kayla Henmi scampered to third on errant throw which rolled into the right field corner. Two batters later, Stewart found the hole through the left side, allowing Henmi to cross the plate.
Augustana got two runs in its half of the fourth inning to jump out to an 8-1 lead. Then in the bottom of the fifth, Matsuoka, a Kaiser High School graduate, blasted a one-out no-doubter to left to cut the deficit to 8-2.
The Vikings then added the final two runs of the game off reliever
Chelsea Camello, although both were unearned.
Augustana rapped out 15 hits with Maggie Kadrlik going 3-for-4. Five other Vikings had two hits. Carley Pickett went six innings, striking out eight while allowing four hits to pick up the win.
Moreno took the loss, allowing 11 hits, eight runs, seven earned in four innings. Camello went the final three, striking out three while scattering four hits.
Game 2It was a pitchers' duel in the nightcap between Augustana's Karlee Koopman and Chaminade's
Amber Manuel. The game was scoreless through five innings with Koopman allowing three hits while Manuel allowed none through 4 2/3 innings. Pickett ended Manuel's no-hit bid on a blooper that fell between Betian at shortstop and centerfielder
Keani Passi. It was the longest that a Silversword pitcher has started a game without surrendering a hit since Kasy'e Lalau tossed 5 2/3 perfect innings against Notre Dame de Namur in March 2010.
The visitors finally broke through in the sixth on Maddie Merriam's two-out single to center.
In the bottom of the sixth, Matsuoka was plunked to lead off the frame, followed by back-to-back singles from Betian and Manuel which loaded the bases with no outs.
Nicole Erichsen brought Matsuoka home on her RBI groundout as the runners each moved up. Passi then walked after working a full count but the 'Swords could not being the tying run home.
Augustana appeared to score two more insurance runs off reliever
Kayla Higuchi in the top half of the seventh, making it 4-1 but Chaminade had its own response.
Kaleen Terayama and Matsuoka had back-to-back one-baggers followed by a walk from Betian to load the bases with one out for the second straight inning. Manuel brought Terayama home on her RBI groundout to make it 4-2 then Erichsen hit a two-hopper which skipped under the shortstop's glove as the error allowed the tying run to come home, sending the game into extras.
The Vikings unknotted the game in the ninth with three runs to complete the twin bill sweep.
Pickett was 3-for-4 as Augustana had 10 hits, eight of those coming after the sixth inning. Koopman went all nine innings, throwing 142 pitchers. She scattered eight hits, allowing four runs (two earned) and seven strikeouts.
Matusoka and Betian went 2-for-4 with Matsuoka scoring two runs while Betian scored once. Manuel lasted six innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out two. Higuchi took the loss in her college debut, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits.
The Silverswords will take two weeks off and return to the diamond on Sept. 13 when they host Saint Martin's. The doubleheader will be played at McKinley High School with first pitch set for 12 p.m. Live audio coverage will be available on GoSwords.com.
