TURLOCK, Calif. – In what is a late-March/early-April tradition, the Chaminade University softball team began the annual Tournament of Champions presented by the City of Turlock by dropping their opening games at the Turlock Regional Sports Complex Friday.
The Silverswords fell to Cal State East Bay, 12-1 in six innings, in their opener, followed by a 7-2 loss to No. 15 Cal State Monterey Bay in the second game.
Game 1 vs. Cal State East Bay
The Silverswords had a chance to open the scoring in the bottom of the third, putting runners on the corners with one out but came up empty after hitting into an inning-ending double play.
Chaminade broke through in the fourth when
Nicole Erichsen extended her hitting streak to six games when she singled to left. Later in the frame,
Maureen Hutchinson hit a chopper to the left side that got through, bringing home Erichsen to put the Silverswords up 1-0 and ran her hit streak to seven.
Luana Moreno, who was brilliant in her previous three starts with a 3-0 record and a 0.39 ERA, was living dangerously as the Pioneers had the bases loaded in the third and fourth innings and had runners at second and third in the fifth. But Moreno dug deep, getting the 'Swords back in their dugout unscathed each time.
But everything unraveled in the sixth. CSUEB's first 10 batters of the inning reached base before an out was even recorded. After the dust settled, the Pioneers sent 17 batters to the plate against Moreno and reliever
Kali Kitsinis, scoring all 12 of their runs in the frame. Three Chaminade errors and three straight bases-loaded walks followed by a hit batter added to the carnage.
Moreno was charged with the loss, allowing eight runs (six earned) on 12 hits. She also walked three, the first she's issued since March 15, ending a span of 34 1/3 consecutive innings without surrendering a walk. Kitsinis pitched the final inning, giving up four runs, all unearned. Six Silverswords had one hit in the contest.
Olivia McWhorter got the win for the Pioneers (19-12), scattering six hits. Ashley Allen and Sarah Fukushima each drove in three for Cal State East Bay.
Game 2 vs. No. 15 Cal State Monterey Bay
Cal State Monterey Bay, the 15
th-ranked team in the nation, took advantage of an error in the bottom of the first which later turned into an RBI single for Julia Garcia. Chaminade committed two more errors in the fourth which led to another run, giving the Otters a 2-0 lead. CSUMB threatened to add more, loading the bases with one out but Kitsinis induced an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.
However, the Otters took advantage of two more Chaminade errors in the fifth, scoring three times to go up 5-0.
The 'Swords finally got something going in the sixth.
Rainelle Matsuoka led off with a single followed by Erichsen being plunked and
Coco Stewart's base hit to center loaded the bases with no out. Chaminade got two productive outs on
Kaitlin Kim's RBI sacrifice fly followed by Moreno's RBI groundout, cutting the deficit to 5-2. The Silverswords nearly added a third run when a pitch got past the catcher but Stewart was thrown out at the plate trying to score.
The Otters tacked on another run in their half of the sixth but the 'Swords got another defensive gem as they threw out Madison Castro at the plate on an
Ashlyn Yagin to
Jenn Betian to Stewart relay.
Kitsinis took the loss to fall to 0-9, allowing seven runs on 14 hits and two walks. The 'Swords got three hits in the game including a fifth-inning single from Hutchinson that not only extended her hit streak to eight games but broke up a no-hitter by CSUMB hurler Hayley Fine. Erichsen was 0-2 with a hit-by-pitch in the contest, ending her hitting streak at six. Kim, meanwhile, played the field for the first time as a collegian, seeing action the entire game at third base and getting two assists on bunt attempts including one which ended the fifth inning with runners at the corner. However, Chaminade committed six errors in the contest, tying its season high.
Fine got the win for the Otters (24-4) to improve to 14-3. Garcia and Castro had three hits each.
The Silverswords (5-25) continue the TOC Saturday as they face Cal State Dominguez Hills and Chico State. Both games will be at the Turlock Regional Sports Complex.
