HILO, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University softball team took to the road for the final time on Friday but was swept by Hawai'i-Hilo at the UH-Hilo Softball Field.
The Vulcans won the first game, 5-1, despite getting all of their four hits in the fourth inning. They finished the doubleheader sweep with a five-inning 11-3 win, putting up crooked numbers in the second and fifth innings. Bailey Gaspar homered twice for UH-Hilo, which improved to 30-17 overall and 19-9 in the Pacific West Conference.
Chaminade has lost 10 straight to UH-Hilo dating back to April 2013.
Game 1
After going hitless through the first three innings,
Amber Manuel ended Cyanne Fernandez's no-hit bid by doubling to left-center which allowed
Rainelle Matsuoka, who got on board with a lead-off error, to advance to third.
Keani Passi then hit a bloop single to center which brought Matsuoka home for the game's first run.
Fernandez's Chaminade counterpart,
Luana Moreno, also had a no-no through three frames. But the Vulcans teed off on Moreno in the fourth, as she allowed four runs on Gaspar's two-run homer and a two-out, two-run double by Andrea Aguinaga to give the Vulcans a 4-1 lead.
That was all the support Fernandez needed, getting the complete-game win, improving to 6-1 on the season as she continued to baffle 'Swords pitching. In 13 1/3 innings against Chaminade this season, Fernandez is 3-0 without allowing an earned run.
Moreno fell to 7-16, tossing 4 2/3 innings.
Kayla Higuchi threw the final 1 2/3 frames, allowing one run which was unearned. With the exception of the fourth, Moreno and Higuchi held UH-Hilo to five hitless innings.
Game 2
The Vulcans scored three times in the second with the help of Gaspar's solo shot and Mari Kawano's steal of home. UH-Hilo plated two more in the third to increase its lead to 5-0.
Chaminade put together a productive inning in the fifth as
Jenn Betian was plunked for the second time in the game followed by
Ashlyn Yagin's walk. After a wild pitch, Matsuoka tripled towards the right field corner to drive in Betian and Yagin for her team-leading 28
th RBI of the year. The freshman later made it 5-3, scoring on an illegal pitch by reliever Billie Derleth.
But the Vulcans put up a six-spot in the home half of the fifth to end the game via the run-rule.
Danielle Wilson got the win to improve to 12-8 while Chenoa Au had three hits and drove in four for the Vulcans.
Chelsea Camello, who was raised in Hilo, made her first career pitching appearance on her home island. She went the distance and took the loss to fall to 4-16. Camello, who prepped at nearby Waiakea High School, surrendered 11 hits, although she tied a career-high with three strikeouts. Two of Chaminade's four hits were from
Coco Stewart.
Betian was plunked three times during the doubleheader, giving her 25 HBP this season. The junior infielder will finish among the national leaders in the category with a 0.543 average.
The losses ended the Silverswords' season at 11-35 and 6-24. A doubleheader from the April 23 rainouts at Hawai'i Pacific University will not be made up.
