HONOLULU – The Chaminade University softball team on Tuesday closed out a three-consecutive run of opponents from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference on Tuesday by sweeping a doubleheader from Simon Fraser at Silversword Field at Sand Island Park.
The Silverswords used big offensive innings to help them take 7-2 and 5-2 wins. Chaminade used a four-run first inning in the opener and scored five times in the third in the backend.
The 'Swords also got solid pitching performances from their staff ace and two freshmen to help them improve to 4-2 on the season. Simon Fraser fell to 5-8 on the year. The start of the twin bill scheduled for noon was delayed by an hour to allow the damp field to dry.
Game 1: CUH 7, SFU 2
On the game's first pitch,
Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) got plunked on her elbow guard, probably foreshadowing the wackiness of what was to come in the rest of the inning.
Jaeda Cabunoc (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Roosevelt) followed by roping a comebacker off Red Leaf pitcher Julia Hansen as the ricocheted ball rolled into foul territory at the first base line. Fujioka never stopped running and scored easily while the first baseman threw wide of first, allowing Cabunoc to scamper to second.
Two batters later,
Haley Hayakawa (Torrance, Calif./South) brought Cabunoc home on a sacrifice fly. Later,
Chasity McKean (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/College of Southern Nevada/Kapolei HS) made it 3-0, scoring when a throw from the right field sailed past the third baseman.
Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress) completed the wild bottom of the first with an RBI single to plate
Kailah Gates-Coyaso (Waianae, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waianae).
SFU added single runs in the third and fourth innings but Chaminade got them back in the fourth when a bases-loaded and no-out error brought a run in. Later, with the bases still juiced, McKean was beaned which forced home the Silverswords' sixth run.
The 'Swords tacked on their seventh and final run when
Larchelle Tuifao (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kapolei) drew a bases-loaded walk.
Meanwhile,
Taylor Genera (Norwalk, Calif./Whitney) continued to show why she is the team's ace, scattering six hits and allowing just one earned run to earn her third consecutive win. According to available records, Genera is the first CUH hurler in some two decades to begin a season 3-0.
Jacobsen had two of Chaminade's seven hits in the opener.
Hansen suffered the loss for Simon Fraser to fall to 0-2.
Game 2: CUH 5, SFU 2
Chaminade got all the runs it needed in the third inning but like the first game, it was aided by Red Leaf errors.
Cheyne Obara (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) led off by reaching on a throwing error. Two batters later, Fujioka ripped a double to the gap in left-center, allowing Cabunoc and
Alicia Amaya (Bellflower, Calif./Bellflower), who got her first two collegiate starts at first base on Tuesday, to score.
Fujioka made a heady base running play, reaching third on Cabunoc's groundout. However, the throw to nab Fujioka was thrown away, allowing her to race home for the 'Swords' third run of the inning. Jacobsen's RBI single brought
Keaolani Takemura (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mid-Pacific Institute) in but SFU's third error of the frame – this time a throwing error – brought McKean home, putting Chaminade up 5-0.
Freshman
Ashley Ogata (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani), making her second start in as many days, kept the Red Leafs off the board but ran into trouble in the fifth with two runs in. Fellow freshman
Bailey Benson (Cheney, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory) was summoned from the bullpen and, after allowing an infield bunt single, retired the final two batters to escape the jam.
Simon Fraser loaded the bases in the sixth and put the tying run at the plate in the seventh but Benson worked out of both jams to preserve the Chaminade sweep.
Ogata, who suffered the hard-luck loss just 24 hours prior against Western Washington, tossed 4 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and both SFU runs, to earn her first career win. Benson threw the final 2 2/3 innings to get her first career save. Fujioka and Hayakawa each had two hits for CUH.
Nevada Johnson took the loss to fall to 0-2.
The Silverswords will open Pacific West Conference action against Biola in a four-game series starting Friday at Silversword Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
