WAIPAHU, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University baseball team on Thursday played their first-ever Pacific West Conference game.
Unfortunately, Hawai'i Pacific University made quick work of the highly anticipated buildup of the conference season opener by plating six runs in the bottom of the first inning to hand the Silverswords a 14-5 defeat at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park Baseball Complex.
Despite HPU's hot bats with 20 hits, the 'Swords had 12 knocks of their own with three by
Caleb Kim (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Christian Academy) who was a home run shy of the cycle.
Cato Kleinman (Westlake Village, Calif./Monterey Peninsula College/Westlake HS) and
Casey Kudell (Irvine, Calif./Irvine Valley College/Irvine HS) had two hits each as did
Kia'i Kawai (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama), both of which came after being a defensive replacement in the sixth inning.
Chaminade fell to 5-9 with an 0-1 start in the PacWest. The Sharks, who entered the week ranked fifth in the NCBWA Division II West Region poll, improved to 9-1 and 1-0 in the conference.
HPU sent 10 batters in the bottom of the first, scoring six times. CUH got a run in the top of the second on Kim's RBI triple but the Sharks tacked on more runs, getting their 12th in the bottom of the fourth.
Chaminade's biggest inning came with three runs in the seventh with Kim coming in on a wild pitch, an RBI single from Kawai and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch from
JT Navyac (Kailua, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Cal State Fullerton/Saint Louis HS).
The 'Swords' fifth run came off the bat of
Brayden Braga (San Ramon, Calif./Dougherty Valley) with a ninth inning pinch-hit home run, his second dinger of the season.
Mac Elske (Lake Oswego, Ore./Lower Columbia CC/Lakeridge HS) took the loss to fall to 1-1 while Jordan Otjen improved to 2-0 with the win.
The four-game series between the Silverswords and Sharks continues Friday which has been designated as a non-conference meeting at CORP with first pitch at 6:15 p.m.
