WAIPAHU, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University softball team went on a hitting spree as they swept a Pacific West Conference doubleheader from Notre Dame de Namur Saturday at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park.
The Silverswords had a combined 28 hits on the afternoon, piling up 17 in their six-inning Game 1, 12-3 win, their most since April 2013. They wrapped up the afternoon by belting out 11 base knocks in the nightcap, scoring the game's final seven runs in a 7-4 win.
Coco Stewart and
Kayla Henmi each had five hits on the afternoon while
Jenn Betian,
Keani Passi and
Rainelle Matsuoka all homered in the first game.
The Silverswords are 7-7 on the season and 3-1 in the PacWest, their best conference start since 2012. The Argonauts, who had won four straight during their Hawai'i road trip, fell to 5-10 and 4-6.
Game 1In the bottom of the second inning,
Kiana Ulufale drew a one-out walk, followed by an infield hit by Henmi and
Kaleen Terayama's bloop single to load the bases.
Sierra Mendiola then delivered a two-run single to put Chaminade on the board. Matsuoka became the fifth straight 'Sword to reach with another bloop single to left center to again load the bases. Betian and
Amber Manuel both walked with the bases loaded to give Chaminade a 4-0 lead.
NDNU responded in its half of the third, driving in three runs off starter
Luana Moreno, but Chaminade had an answer in the fourth when Betian belted a one-out, solo homer to left center, her first of the season. The Silverswords then made it 6-3 in the fifth when Matsuoka doubled to the left-center gap to drive home Mendiola.
Meanwhile, Moreno settled down, retiring eight of the final nine batters she faced.
Chaminade then put the game away in the sixth. Manuel led off the inning with a ground-rule double off reliever Victoria Dobbins, then Passi hit her third homer of the season to dead center, increasing the Silverswords' lead to 8-3. Ulufale and Henmi kept the hit train going with singles and two batters later, Mendiola drove in her third run home with a single to left as Henmi crossed the plate on an error by the leftfielder. That brought Matsuoka back to the dish and on the first pitch she saw, smashed a two-run game-ending homer to left-center, the freshman's fifth of the season.
Moreno got the win to improve to 4-3 on the year. Of the eight hits she allowed, five came in NDNU's three-run third. She also struck out three. Matsuoka was 3-for-5 with three RBI while Henmi was a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs. For Mendiola, the three runs driven in was her first career multi-RBI game. It was also Chaminade's first three-homer game since April 2013.
Argos' starter Shelby Reali was tagged for six runs, all earned, in five innings of work. Dobbins lasted only 1/3 inning, with all six runs she allowed earned. Cynthia Ream-Garcia, Haley Stahl and Toni Cardoza each had two hits while Ream-Garcia drove in a pair.
Game 2NDNU wasted no time in the first inning, scoring four times off Chaminade starter
Chelsea Camello, three of the runs coming with two outs. The 'Swords got a run back in their half of the frame on Manuel's RBI sacrifice fly.
Camello settled down but got a big assist in the second inning from her defense. With Stahl at first, Megan Kravec lined a two-out double into the left-field corner. Stahl made the turn at third but was thrown out at home as Betian fired a strike to Ulufale to end the inning. Camello also received help with an inning-ending double-play in the fourth.
In the home half of the fourth, the 'Swords loaded the bases with one out. Henmi then drove in her first career run, blooping an opposite field single down the left field line to bring home pinch-runner
Tiana Pantil. Pinch-hitter
Nicole Erichsen, mired in a season-opening 2-for-17 slump coming into the day, then got her biggest hit of the season, with a liner up the middle to drive in pinch-runner
Shannon Tagle and Passi. However, on the play, centerfielder Taylor Haynes misplayed the hop as the ball rolled under her glove and toward the fence, allowing Henmi to scamper home. The four-run frame gave the 'Swords a 5-4 lead.
Chaminade then added insurance runs with RBI singles by Passi in the fifth and Stewart in the sixth.
Kayla Higuchi, who relieved Camello with one out in the sixth, retired the first two batters in the seventh then allowed back-to-back hits, bringing the tying run to the plate. But the freshman got Kravec to hit a pop up to Betian to end the game.
Camello scattered eight hits in her 5 1/3 innings of work, with no walks and three strikeouts to improve to 3-3 on the year. Higuchi went 1 2/3 innings for her first career save. Stewart was 3-for-4 with an RBI while Passi was 2-for-4 with a run and RBI.
NDNU starter Erin Powers fell to 2-3, allowing seven runs, three earned, while walking three with two strikeouts. Cardoza was 3-for-4 and scored a run.
For only the time this season, the Silverswords will play for a second time in three days, hosting Dominican Monday at CORP Field. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 4:30 p.m. with live streaming audio coverage on GoSwords.com.
