WAIPAHU, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University softball team opened a four-game series against Notre Dame de Namur with a doubleheader sweep Saturday at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park Softball Complex.
The Silverswords took the opening game, 2-1, on an infield walk-off single by
Kayla Henmi (Torrance, Calif./South).
Chaminade took the nightcap, 9-6, behind a 10-hit attack, highlighted by back-to-back homers by
Alexis Velazquez (Fontana, Calif./Howard College/Alta Loma HS) and
Malia Ka`akimaka-Moisa (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) in the fourth inning.
The Silverswords improved to 5-6 overall and 2-2 in the Pacific West Conference. The Argonauts fell to 0-15 and 0-10 in the conference.
Game 1
The 'Swords loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first then
Kiana Ulufale's (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) sacrifice fly brought
Hailey Matsumura (Honolulu/Saint Francis HS) home for the game's first run.
From there it was a pitchers' duel between Chaminade's
Madelyn Stockslager (Torrance, Calif./South) and NDNU's Sofia Garcia who both kept their opponents off the scoreboard.
However, NDNU got tying run in the sixth on a two-out RBI single by Lysette Villegas. The Argos put a runner on in the seventh but
Maureen Hutchinson (Curtisville, Pa./Deer Lake) made a spectacular diving catch near the right field line that ended the inning, saving the potential go-ahead run from scoring. Hutchinson also made a diving catch in the fourth.
Matsumura led off the seventh with a double to left then got to third on a wild pitch. Henmi then scalded an opposite field hit to a drawn-in third baseman, bringing Matsumura in for the game-winning hit.
Henmi's first career walk-off was her career-tying third hit of the game. Stockslager got the win to improve to 4-2, tossing a five-hitter with seven strikeouts.
Garcia took the loss to fall to 0-6.
Game 2
After NDNU got first-inning run, Chaminade responded in a big way in its half of the frame. Velazquez drove in Matsumura but was safe at first on a throwing error. Ulufale then drew a bases-loaded walk followed by
Makena Kealoha (Corona, Calif./Norco) who was plunked which brought in another.
Ashlyn Yagin (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) then drove in a sacrifice fly which put the 'Swords up 4-1.
Chaminade scored its fifth run when Matsumura drew another bases-loaded walk in the third.
The Argos rallied for two runs in the fourth but the 'Swords responded in their half of the frame with a boom. Velazquez led off the inning by crushing Garcia's 1-1 pitch over the centerfield fence for her first career home run. The next batter, Ka'akimaka-Moisa, followed suit, for her first career homer as the 'Swords went back-to-back to go up 7-3.
The Argos got the two runs back in the fifth but Chaminade again answered thanks to the return of the team's most prolific hitter the last three years.
Rainelle Matsuoka (Honolulu/Kaiser), the program's second all-time home run hitter with 20 who had missed the team's first 10 games due to an injury, was called in as a pinch-hitter and just missed a homer to left, although the ground-rule double did bring home Velazquez.
NDNU narrowed the game to 8-6 but the 'Swords got a big insurance run in the sixth when pinch-hitter
Marlisa Berrelleza (Indio, Calif./Indio) hit a bouncer that hopped over the first base bag, allowing Yagin to scamper home for the game's final run.
Kayla Higuchi (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Aiea) scattered six hits in four innings of work to pick up the win, her first since Feb. 14, 2017. Stockslager tossed the final three to earn her first save of the year and second of her career.
Chaminade rapped out 10 hits, three from Matsumura and two more from Velazquez. The Silverswords' top of order was 8-of-14 at the dish with seven runs and five driven in.
Selena Sandoval took the loss to fall to 0-3.
Henmi's 4-for-8 day extended her hitting streak to a team-high six games and has also reached base in all 11 games. Ka'akimaka-Moisa, in the meantime, has a nine-game reached-base streak.
The sweep was Chaminade's first home sweep of a PacWest opponent since taking two from BYU-Hawai'i on April 8, 2016.
The Silverswords and Argos wrap up their four-game series Sunday at CORP Softball Complex with first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Live streaming audio will be available on GoSwords.com.
Also, the postponed doubleheader between Chaminade and Hawai'i Hilo on the Big Island that was rained out on Feb. 24 has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 20 in Hilo.
