TURLOCK, Calif. – The Chaminade University softball team concluded Day 2 of the Tournament of Champions presented by the City of Turlock on Saturday with a pair of defeats.
The Silverswords fell to Montana State Billings in their first game of the day, 5-2, then lost to host Stanislaus State, 7-5, in their nightcap contest.
Keaolani Takemura (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mid-Pacific Institute) continued her torrid run at the tournament, collecting four total hits, two for extra bases, with three runs and two RBI.
The 'Swords' saw their record fall to 18-18 with one more game left in the TOC.
Also, Dominican University of California officials announced late Friday evening that one of the two rained out games from this past Tuesday will be made up on Sunday afternoon in Turlock.
Game 1: MSUB 5, CUH 2
After four scoreless innings at Pedretti Park No. 2, Chaminade broke through in the bottom of the fifth when Takemura belted a gapper to right-center, bringing in
Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress), who singled to lead off the inning.
Chasity McKean (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/College of Southern Nevada/Kapolei HS) followed by dropping a bloop single to right, allowing Takemura to beat the tag home, putting the 'Swords up, 2-0.
But the Yellowjackets responded in their half of the sixth with the first three batters getting base hits to load the bases. That led to the game-tying two-run hit by Jazlyn Kalehuawehe, followed two batters later when a throw to home with the bases loaded was late, giving MSU Billings the lead.
Consecutive doubles in the seventh led to two more runs in the seventh for a 5-2 lead.
Meanwhile, Chaminade's bats went cold with its final seven batters of the game retired.
Taylor Genera (Norwalk, Calif./Whitney) was cruising through five innings, retiring 15 of the first 16 batters she faced before getting into trouble in the sixth and taking the loss to fall to 6-4. Takemura had two of CUH's seven hits in the contest.
Alyssa Etheridge tossed all seven innings to pick up the win.
Game 2: Stan State 7, CUH 5
The Silverswords quickly found themselves down 4-0 in the second and later, 6-0, in the fourth in the chilly evening conditions at Warrior Field.
Jaeda Cabunoc (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Roosevelt) ended the hopes of a Stan State shutout with a solid RBI single to centerfield. In the fifth, Takemura ripped her Pacific West Conference-leading ninth triple of the season, allowing
Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) to score easily. Takemura later came in to score on an error.
The Warriors got an RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth but in the seventh, the 'Swords made some noise, scoring runs on a passed ball and
Alicia Amaya's (Bellflower, Calif./Bellflower) RBI fielder's choice. That allowed the tying run at the plate with one out but Stan State got the final two outs to finish the game.
Fujioka had three hits in the evening while Cabunoc and Takemura had two each. The latter's fifth-inning RBI increased her PacWest-leading total to 33.
Bailey Benson (Cheney, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory) was charged with the loss to fall to 5-9.
The Warriors had 12 hits on the evening while the win went to Victoria Alarcon.
The Silverswords will conclude the TOC against Central Washington at 10 a.m. local time at Warrior Field. Following Dominican's 12:30 Pacific time TOC game against MSU Billings, the 'Swords and Penguins will face either other at 3 p.m. local time as part of the rained out Pacific West Conference games on March 28.
