IRVINE, Calif. – The Chaminade University softball team completed their four-game series against No. 7 Concordia Saturday with two losses at Eagles Softball Field.
The Silverswords had their closest margin of the series in the first game, falling 4-2. The Eagles took the series finale, 9-0, to sweep all four games.
Chaminade fell to 10-19 overall and 7-15 in the Pacific West Conference. Concordia, ranked No. 7 in the latest NFCA Coaches Poll, is 23-3 and 12-2.
Game 1
Chaminade went with ace
Madelyn Stockslager (Torrance, Calif./South) while Concordia also went with its ace, Callie Nunes, who has two no-hitters this season and struck out 14 'Swords on Friday.
But the control problems that plagued CUI's All-American continued. Nunes, who walked a season-high eight and hit two batters Friday, issued a free pass to the game's lead-off batter
Cheyne Obara (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) then two batters later, plunked
Rainelle Matsuoka (Honolulu/Kaiser). However she was able to escape the jam.
Stockslager retired the first three batters she faced but allowed an RBI single by Haylee Kloosterman in the second.
Then in the top of the fourth, Nunes completely lost command. She walked
Alexis Velazquez (Fontana, Calif./Howard College/Alta Loma HS),
Malia Ka`akimaka-Moisa (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) and
Kiana Ulufale (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) consecutively. With the bases loaded, Nunes proceeded to walk
Ashlyn Yagin (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) on five pitches to bring Velazquez home and tie the game. Nunes was then lifted, having thrown 21 pitches, 16 out of the strike zone.
Jordan Quinn came in relief with the bases loaded and no out. But a 5-2-3 double play helped Concordia escape the inning without further damage.
A sacrifice fly in the fifth put the Eagles ahead but the Silverswords countered in the sixth.
Velazquez ended the Eagles' combined no-hit bid with a line-drive single to center. Then pinch-hitter
Marlisa Berrelleza (Indio, Calif./Indio) came up with a big hit that eluded them the entire road trip, ripping an opposite field two-out single the hit off the field, bringing home
Karyna Baldomino (Diamond Bar, Calif./Rowland). The freshman's clutch knock tied it at 2.
But the Eagles scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to escape with the win.
Stockslager pitched well enough to win, allowing just five hits with a strikeout in falling to 8-8.
Quinn picked up the win while Nunes departed after just three innings while walking six and one hit batter.
Game 2
With Nunes having thrown just 64 pitches in the first game, she was summoned to start the second game. Concordia's offense gave her a lead to work with in the first inning via a home run by Sydney Sprinkle.
The 'Swords continued to work the count on Nunes, forcing four walks while
Makena Kealoha (Corona, Calif./Norco) ripped a single to center in the second before she departed after three innings of work.
Meanwhile Concordia put up three runs in the second and fifth innings to put the game away.
Kayla Higuchi (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Aiea) took the loss for Chaminade, falling to 1-7. Kealoha had two hits in the game while Velazquez had the team's third hit, a double in the fifth. Silverswords hitters experienced a mixed bag during the series. They struck out 37 times and stranded 14 runners in scoring position. However they forced Nunes to work, drawing 18 walks on her and of the 16 innings she threw in the series, she dealt with traffic in all but one.
Despite being pulled early, Nunes earned the win to improve to 16-2..
The Silverswords open a four-game series Monday at Biola.
