HONOLULU – The softball teams from Chaminade University and Concordia University Irvine attempted to play tripleheader at two different venues Monday.
After Concordia took the first game, Mother Nature claimed the rest.
Intermittent showers throughout the morning turned heavy, forcing Game 1 to be called early and wiped out the other two.
Concordia, ranked 10th in the NFCA Coaches Top 25 Poll, rallied from a one-run deficit with a six-run sixth inning in a rain-shortened 7-2 win in six.
The Silverswords fell to 3-4 overall and 0-4 in Pacific West Conference action. The two-time defending conference champion Eagles improved to 13-2 and 7-1 in the PacWest.
Chaminade put freshman
Taylor Genera (Norwalk, Calif./Whitney) in the circle for the 10:30 a.m. start and she responded nicely, going toe-to-toe with Concordia's No. 2 hurler, Erika Morris for a majority of the game.
Trailing 1-0, the 'Swords capitalized on consecutive errors by third baseman Amanda Gjertson to open the fourth inning. Gjertson's second error was a throwing one on a sacrifice bunt attempt by
Jaeda Cabunoc (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Roosevelt) which sailed over the head of first baseman Sydney Sprinkle, allowing Genera to move to third and Cabunoc to second.
Karyna Baldomino (Diamond Bar, Calif./Rowland) followed by beating a throw to first for an infield single, allowing Genera to scamper home to tie it at 1.
Makena Kealoha (Corona, Calif./Norco) then grounded into a double play but it allowed Cabunoc to score the go-ahead run.
Then in the top-half of the sixth, Concordia tied in on Mackenzie Graham's RBI double to left then Morris helped her own cause with the go-ahead two-run homer to straight-away center, putting CUI up 4-2. The Eagles tacked on three more runs in the frame and sent 11 batters to the plate.
Cabunoc managed to get a single just inside the left-field line in the sixth but was left stranded at first.
CUI tacked on two runs in the top of the seventh, making it 9-2. Then in bottom of the seventh with Kealoha batting, the drizzle turned heavier, putting the game in a rain delay. With the rain showing no signs of stopping and the dirt infield beginning to pond, the game was called several minutes later. According to NCAA Rule 16.7.1, the score reverts to the final completed full inning, officially going in the books as a 7-2 final in six innings.
The rain also wrecked the second game as well as the third which was to have been played at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park Softball Complex.
Genera took the loss, falling to 2-2. She scattered eight hits, allowing four runs with no strikeouts.
Madelyn Stockslager (Torrance, Calif./South) made a relief appearance and pitched to five batters in the sixth but did not record an out before Genera returned to finish the game.
Chaminade managed four hits, two from Baldomino. Morris got the win to improve to 3-0.
The Silverswords return to action Thursday when they open a four-game series against Azusa Pacific at CORP Softball Complex. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. with live streaming audio on GoSwords.com.
