AZUSA, Calif. – The Chaminade University softball team completed their first road series of the season Thursday by dropping both games of a doubleheader to Azusa Pacific, 11-0 and 1-0, at Cougars Softball Complex.
The Silverswords bats remained quiet, totaling just seven hits in the final two games of the series.
Alexis Velazquez (Fontana, Calif./Howard College/Alta Loma HS) was the only 'Sword to record hits in both games, going 3-for-5 on the day.
The games were a makeup of Wednesday's twin bill which was called due to rain. The contests were also moved up two hours ahead of the original start time of 4 p.m.
Chaminade fell to 10-15 overall and 7-11 in the Pacific West Conference. Azusa Pacific, which swept all four games of the series, improved to 11-9 and 8-4.
Game 1
The Cougars jumped on starter
Michelle Sasaki (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kalaheo) early, scoring four runs in the first inning, although an error made two of them unearned.
Two more Chaminade errors in the second inning also proved costly with APU scoring six times, five being unearned.
The 'Swords managed to get base runners in each of the last four innings including Velazquez's double in the fourth, the team's only extra base hit in the series. However they to bring them across as the game ended in the fifth via the run-rule.
Sasaki was charged with the loss to fall to 1-4 while
Madelyn Stockslager (Torrance, Calif./South) was summoned from the bullpen to pitch the final 2 2/3 innings. Of the 11 Azusa Pacific runs that crossed the plate, only four were earned.
Makena Kealoha (Cornoa, Calif./Norco) and
Cheyne Obara (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) also had base hits.
Megan Mejia pitched the last three innings to earn the win for the Cougars to improve to 2-0.
Game 2
The final game of the series was a pitchers' duel between Stockslager and APU ace Kat Ung.
Ung was able to work out of a runners-at-first-and-second jam in the top of the first while Stockslager was able to wiggle out of two bases-loaded jams in the fourth and fifth, the latter with just one out. Stockslager was able to get a weak pop-up and an inning-ending strikeout to quell the threat.
But in the APU half of the sixth, Danielle Toschi boomed a one-out homer that just stayed inside the left-field foul pole for the game's first run.
In top of the seventh, Chaminade had the tying run in
Hailey Matsumura (Honolulu/Saint Francis) at second and the go-ahead run at first in Obara, running for
Kiana Ulufale (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) singled to keep the inning alive. But an pop-up ended the game.
Stockslager took the hard-luck loss, falling to 8-6. She allowed just five hits with her ERA dropping to 1.97.
Ung got the win for the Cougars, improving to 4-4.
The Silverswords open a four-game series Friday at Concordia Irvine at Eagles Softball Field. Concordia was ranked No. 1 in the nation last week but fell to seventh after splitting a four-game series against Hawai'i Pacific. The Eagles feature national pitcher of the year candidate Callie Nunes who fired back-to-back no-hitters earlier this year.
