WAIPAHU, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University baseball team put an emphatic cap on their weekend series against Hawai'i Pacific University on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional (CORP) Baseball Complex.
The Silverswords won the first game, 7-5, in a seven-inning conference meeting then rallied from five runs down to seize the non-conference, nine-inning nightcap, 12-9, enabling them to win three of the four-game series.
Ryan Ruch (San Diego/Patrick Henry) finished a monster series against HPU, going 7-of-14 with six RBI, six runs and four extra base hits including two homers. Not to be outdone,
Casey Kudell (Irvine, Calif./Irvine Valley College/Irvine HS) also had a weekend to remember with a 10-of-16 series at the plate with four runs, seven RBI and a homer.
Chaminade improved to 8-9 on the season while the first-game victory was also its first as a member of the Pacific West Conference.
The Sharks fell to 9-4 and 1-1 in the PacWest. All four of their losses have been against the 'Swords.
Game 1: CUH 7, HPU 5
Chaminade didn't waste any time in getting on the board as Kudell mashed a two-run homer in the top of the first inning. In the third, Kudell was back at it again, this time with an RBI single to give the 'Swords a 3-1 lead.
HPU tied it at 3 in the bottom of the frame were it remained a deadlock until the fifth when Ruch singled in what proved to be the go-ahead run. Two batters later,
Jackson Dorn (Happy Valley, Ore./Mt. Hood CC/Clackamas HS) plated two more with a single to give CUH a 6-3 edge.
A two-run homer helped HPU close to 6-5 but Chaminade got an big insurance run in the seventh when
Ace Perry (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/University) scored on a passed ball.
Hawai'i Pacific had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh but
Cato Kleinman (Westlake Village, Calif./Monterey Peninsula College/Westlake HS) made a diving stop in the hole at second to throw out the runner at first for the game's final out.
Zac Brown (Tustin, Calif./Mater Dei) picked up his first win of the season (1-1), tossing 2 1/3 innings, allowing no earned runs on three hits.
Rhyn Chambers (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) fired the final 1 1/3 frames to earn his second save.
Kudell and Dorn each had two RBI while
Aydan Lobetos (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) had two hits and scored twice.
Mac Leisher (3-1) took the loss for HPU.
Game 2: CUH 12, HPU 9
The Sharks responded in the nine-inning nightcap by putting up a five-spot in the top of the first.
Dorn got the Silverswords on the board with a scorching single off the second baseman's glove in the second. But it was in the third where the 'Swords did their damage.
Kia'i Kawai (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) and Kudell had back-to-back RBI hits. A pair of walks loaded the bases where
Brayden Braga (San Ramon, Calif./Dougherty Valley) made it 5-4 with an RBI single. With the bases still full of 'Swords,
Joe DuCoeur (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Lake City) had the inning's big blow, with a double to left center, clearing the bases to put Chaminade ahead, 7-5, to complete a six-run frame.
Another Kudell RBI single in the fourth followed by a fifth inning DuCoeur sacrifice fly and a
Caleb Kim (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Christian Academy) single upped the 'Swords' lead to 10-5.
The Sharks got two runs back to trail 10-7 but Ruch led off the top of the ninth with a majestic blast over the right field fence for his second jack of not only the season but in the series. Kim's double plated another run to make it 12-7 before HPU got a two-run double by Tejean Smith in the bottom of the inning.
Derek Augenstein (Vista, Calif./Palomar College/Rancho Buena Vista HS), who was brought in the to end the eighth, got a fly ball to left to end the game.
Although
Xavier Stoker (Cedar City, Utah/College of the Canyons//Canyon View HS) was roughed up in the first, the junior settled down, retiring 12 of the next 14 batters he faced while not allowing a run from the second through fifth frames to pick up his first win of the season. Augenstein, who came in to protect a three-run lead in the eighth, tossed the final 1 1/3 to earn his first save.
Enrique Espinoza was tagged with the loss for HPU to fall to 0-1.
Kudell had three hits of the 'Swords' 15 hits while DuCoeur delivered four RBI.
The Silverswords resume PacWest action on Friday, March 1 for a four-game series against Fresno Pacific at CORP. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
