BELMONT, Calif. – The Chaminade University softball team on Wednesday earned a doubleheader split for the second straight day against Notre Dame de Namur at Notre Dame High School.
Luana Moreno won her third straight start in the Silverswords' 3-0 first game win, tossing a three-hitter. The Argonauts won the nightcap, 3-2, on Gianna Gesler's eighth-inning walk-off double.
Chaminade, which earned split in the four-game series against Notre Dame de Namur this season, is 5-23 and 3-15 in the Pacific West Conference while NDNU is 8-13 overall and 8-10 in the conference.
Game 1
The 'Swords plated the game's first run in the second inning on
Jenn Betian's bases-loaded walk. Then in the third,
Coco Stewart and
Kiana Ulufale had back-to-back doubles, the latter scoring Stewart. Two batters later,
Alisen Endsley got on via an error which allowed Ulufale to scamper home to give Chaminade a 3-0 lead.
That would be more than enough for Moreno who kept the Argos in check. She retired the first 16 batters she faced before having her bid for perfect game broken up with one out in the sixth on Taylor Haynes' bunt single. NDNU managed to get another hit to put the tying run at the plate but Moreno induced an inning-ending ground-out from Tivoli Sisco.
Megan Kravec led off the Argos' seventh with a double but again Moreno neutralized the threat by retiring the next three batters in order to preserve the win.
Moreno won her third consecutive start to improve to 3-10 as her three-hit shutout lowered her ERA to 3.39. Her 5 1/3 innings of perfection is the best to start a game since Kasy'e Lalau went 5 2/3 without allowing a base runner on March 10, 2010, also against NDNU.
At the plate, Ulufale had her first career three-hit game, going 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Stewart went 2-for-4 with a double, extending her hitting streak to four games, and
Nicole Erichsen also had a two-hit game for Chaminade. The 'Swords also went without an error for the first time since late last season, ending a 30-game span of committing an error.
Audree Vicory lasted just three innings in taking the loss to fall to 4-5 on the year.
Game 2
For the third time in the series, the 'Swords scored first, taking advantage of Erichsen's lead-off double in the second inning as she crossed the plate on an Argos' error.
NDNU tied it in the third on Kravec's RBI double then the 'Swords retook the lead in the fifth on a solo homer by Endsley, her second of the season.
Meanwhile, CUH starter
Kali Kitsinis worked her way out of several jams, which included getting outs at home plate in the second and fourth innings and stranding runners at third on four occasions. But her good fortune ran out in the sixth as Stella Weinkauf's sacrifice fly tied the game at 2.
Chaminade had several shots at the go-ahead runs but stranded a runner at second in the seventh and the bases loaded in the eighth.
Moreno was summoned to keep the Argos in check, retaining her first game dominance by retiring the side in order in the seventh. But in the eighth, the Argos finally got to her, opening the inning with back-to-back singles then ending it on Gesler's game-ending double.
Moreno took the loss to fall to 3-11, although her ERA is still at a sparkling 3.42. Kitsinis lasted six frames, allowing two runs on eight hits. She also allowed only one walk which came in the sixth inning and was the only free pass issued by 'Swords pitching during the 30 1/3 innings they tossed in the four-game series.
Endley, Erichsen and
Rainelle Matsuoka each had two hits in the game with Erichsen extending her hitting streak to career-best five games. The senior from nearby Castro Valley was 7-for-14 at the plate in the series, raising her average to .275 on the season.
Maureen Hutchinson, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the sixth, singled in the seventh to extend her hitting streak to six.
Erin Powers got the win for NDNU to improve to 3-6. Gesler was 3-for-4 with two doubles.
The Silverswords will head to Turlock, California, for the Tournament of Champions presented by the City of Turlock and open tournament action Friday against Cal State East Bay and 15
th-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay. Both games will be at the Turlock Regional Sports Complex.
