HONOLULU – With the novelty of playing in their new field for the first time ever past them, the Chaminade University softball team got back down to business on Monday, facing their second consecutive opponent from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
Just 24 hours after splitting their opening doubleheader of the season to Saint Martin's at their new Silversword Field at Sand Island Park, the Silverswords got another twin bill split, this time against Western Washington.
Chaminade took the first game, 6-5, rallying from a three-run deficit. The Vikings took the nightcap in a 4-2 win that required nine innings to settle.
The Silverswords are 2-2 on the season while Western Washington is 7-6, completing their trip by splitting all six of their games against the Hawai'i teams.
Game 1: CUH 6, WWU 5
With overnight rains saturating the field with the looming threat for more, the Vikings jumped on 'Swords' starter
Taylor Genera (Norwalk, Calif./Whitney) by batting around in the first inning, plating three runs. But the senior settled down, allowing just two base runners over the next four innings.
Meanwhile, Chaminade got a second-inning run, thanks to a two-out RBI double from
Kailah Gates-Coyaso (Waianae, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waianae).
In the third, Chaminade struck again with two outs.
Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) and
Haley Hayakawa (Torrance, Calif./South) got the tying runs when a throwing error in an attempt to get
Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress) at second base sailed into right field. The 'Swords took the 4-3 lead on the next at-bat on
Jaeda Cabunoc's (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Roosevelt) RBI single.
A pinch-hit RBI knock by
Larchelle Tuifao (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kapolei) in the fifth increased Chaminade's lead to 5-3 but the Vikings tied it with a two-run sixth inning.
Fujioka led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple into the right-center gap then scored the go-ahead run on Hayakawa's sacrifice fly.
Genera then retired the Vikings in order to improve to 2-0 on the season. Fujioka had two of Chaminade's seven hits while
Keaolani Takemura (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mid-Pacific Institute) scored twice.
Alexis Slater tossed one inning of relief but was tagged with the loss to fall to 0-2.
Game 2: WWU 4, CUH 2 (9 innings)
With
Ashley Ogata (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) making her first collegiate start, she and Slater faced in other in a battle of freshman hurlers. The Vikings managed to scrape off a pair of two-out runs in the third and sixth innings.
In the home half of the sixth, Chaminade answered, loading the bases on Cabunoc's infield single and two walks, all with two outs.
Kobe Brown (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) then delivered with a clutch two-run, game-tying single which helped send the game into extra innings.
With the international tie-breaker (runner placed on second) in place starting in the eight, neither team could get their runners home. But WWU brought in two runs in the ninth which proved to be the game-winning runs, helping them salvage their third straight split in Hawai'i.
Ogata scattered 10 hits in her debut, allowing two earned runs and a pair of strikeouts. Cabunoc had two of the 'Swords' four hits.
Hanako Hirai tossed three innings of relief to pick up her first win of the season.
The Silveswords will conclude their run of GNAC opponents Wednesday when they face Simon Fraser at Silversword Field. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
