AZUSA, Calif. – Good start, not so good middle, good towards the finish, sour ending.
It was a rollercoaster of a Tuesday for the Chaminade University softball team as they finally opened their four-game series at Azusa Pacific after Monday's games at Cougars Softball Field were washed out.
The run-starved Silverswords grabbed an early lead in the opening game only to see the Cougars score runs in bunches in the middle of the first game and the start of the second with the 'Swords countering late and culminating with a wild finish.
The 'Swords scored twice in the first inning of the opener before APU returned the favor in the each subsequent inning for a 10-2, five-inning win. The Cougars put up a four-spot to start the second game with Chaminade answering to send it into extras only to see the home team escape, 6-5, on a bases-loaded walk in the eighth.
Hailey Matsumura (Honolulu/Saint Francis) drove in runs in both games while
Keaolani Takemura (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mid-Pacific Institute) had hits in both to extend her hitting streak to five.
Chaminade lost its 10th straight on its current Southern California road swing, falling to 10-14 overall and 8-12 in the Pacific West Conference.
Azusa Pacific, on the other hand, is headed towards the opposite direction with a six-game win streak in improving to 22-13 and 16-6 in the conference.
Game 1: APU 10, CUH 2 (5)
The Silverswords who broke a 43-inning scoreless streak on Saturday, wasted no time in getting on the board. Consecutive one-out singles from
Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) and Takemura combined with an error loaded the bases. Matsumura then laid down a bunt single which scored Fujioka for the first run. Starting pitcher
Jaeda Cabunoc (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Roosevelt) was then drilled by an inside fastball from her counterpart, Aly Montesino, to plate another.
But the 'Swords' 2-0 lead didn't last long. The Cougars sent all nine batters in the lineup card to the plate in the bottom of the first, scoring five runs on just two hits, aided by three walks and an error.
APU added in each inning including the game-finishing single in the fifth to end the game on the eight-run rule.
Cabunoc was charged with the loss.
After her shaky first inning, Montesino calmed down and tossed the final four innings without allowing a hit, allowing just a walk and a fielder's choice in the third to improve to 4-0. Aleah Delgado had three RBI for the Cougars.
Game 2: APU 6, CUH 5 (8)
The first inning was a near carbon copy for the Cougars, scoring four times which included a pair of two-run homers from Montesino and Caitlin DeCanio.
With a struggling offense, it seemed a 4-0 deficit was more like 14 runs. But in the third, the 'Swords made the little things to fire up the motors.
Yolanda Racaza (San Pedro, Calif./Port of Los Angeles), who got her first career start at second base, led off with a walk. Fujioka was then plunked and, after a groundout moved both runners, Takemura took the pitch back up the box for a run-scoring single.
Kobe Brown (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) then smashed an RBI double followed by a sacrifice fly from
Malia Ka`akimaka-Moisa (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) to bring Chaminade to within a run.
APU got one back in the fourth but the 'Swords rallied again. Ka'akimaka-Moisa doubled to left center to lead off the sixth, followed by a
Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress) single while pinch hitter
Larchelle Tuifao (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kapolei) was hit to load the bases. A wild pitch brought a run home then two batters later, Matsumura lined a single to center for the game-tying RBI.
The 'Swords couldn't capitalize on a two-out double by Cabunoc in the seventh and the first career extra-base hit by from
Kailah Gates-Coyaso (Waianae, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waianae), a double, which led off the eighth.
In the home half of the eighth, APU loaded the bases with no out. Cabunoc, who replaced
Taylor Genera (Norwalk, Calif./Whitney) in the fourth, worked a full count to Ally Chin who then coaxed the walk-off walk on a borderline 3-2 pitch which may not – or may have – nicked the outside corner of the strike zone.
Matsumura and Takemura both went 2-for-4 with an RBI, part of nine Chaminade hits, the team's most during the road trip. Genera tossed three innings while Cabunoc went the last four in falling to 6-8 on the year.
Katie Korstrom, APU's ace and its third pitcher of the game, tossed the final 1 1/3 innings to earn the win to improve to 10-2.
The series finale between the Silverswords and Cougars will be on Wednesday starting at 4 p.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Hawai'i. The doubleheader is a makeup of Monday's rainouts.
