LA MIRADA, Calif. – The Chaminade University softball team continued action Saturday at the Concordia Kickoff Classic.
With weather continuing to shut down Orange County Great Park in Irvine, games were for the second straight day relocated to campus sites across Southern California including sending the Silverswords to a familiar setting at fellow Pacific West Conference member Biola University's Freedom Field (other sites were Concordia, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State San Bernardino).
Matchups were also shelved from their original opponents with Chaminade getting new opponents in San Francisco State and Sonoma State (originally set to face Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Monterey Bay).
For the second time in as many outings, the Silverswords suffered a walk-off defeat after taking a lead into the seventh inning with San Francisco State getting the 5-4 win.
In their second game, the 'Swords never led, dropping a 5-2 decision to Sonoma State, dropping them to 0-3 to start the season.
Game 1: SFSU 5, CUH 4
After spotting the Gators a run in the home half of the third inning,
Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City)led off the fourth with her third career home run which easily cleared the right field fence.
Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress) and
Jaeda Kumaewa-Cabunoc (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Roosevelt) then rapped out consecutive doubles, giving the 'Swords a 3-1 lead.
SFSU knotted the score in the bottom of the inning and it remained a 3-3 deadlock until the top of the seventh when
Kobe Brown (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani)gave Chaminade a 4-3 lead with an RBI single to center, the second time in as many games where the senior had the go-ahead late-inning hit.
But in a repeat scenario from the Friday loss to seventh-ranked Cal State San Marcos, the Silverswords couldn't slam the door shut. For the second straight outing, an error was the opportunity the opponent needed and pinch-hitter Shaunessy Cardwell launched the two-run, game-winning double off the base of the right-center fence.
Keaolani Takemura-Brehme (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mid-Pacific Institute), who was moved to the lead-off spot in the lineup card, had two of the 'Swords' seven hits while Fujioka, in addition to her round-tripper, walked twice.
Bailey Benson (Cheney, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory) went the first three innings, allowing a run on two hits.
Kamryn Lopez (Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial) went the final 3 1/3 in taking the loss.
Mari Takeda Bajan, who got the win over the 'Swords in the 2022 Tournament of Champions while playing at Chico State, earned the victory for the Gators, who have taken the last four meetings in the series.
Game 2:
Trailing by a run, Takemura-Brehme tied it at 1 on a two-out, third-inning single.
Then in the bottom of the fourth, Chaminade's trademark stellar defense went through a rough patch, committing three errors leading to three unearned runs and a 4-1 Sonoma lead.
Chaminade got a run back in the top-half of the fifth when
Kailah Gates-Coyaso (Waianae, O'ahu, Hawa'i/Waianae) scored on a wild pitch.
SSU tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-2. Unlike their first two games of the season, there would be no late-inning rally for the 'Swords this time as they were retired in order to end the game.
Gates-Coyaso had two of Chaminade's five hits in the nightcap. Freshman
Vanessa Pena (Paramount, Calif./Paramount), making her collegiate pitching debut, went 1 2/3 relief innings to suffer the loss, despite not allowing an earned run.
Bailee Reed got the win for Sonoma State (1-1) with Charlie Johnson getting a nine-out save.
The final day of the Concordia Kickoff Classic is Sunday. A decision on whether Great Park can finally be used or a return to campus sites will be made following the conclusion of Saturday's games. The Silverswords are scheduled to face Cal State Dominguez Hills at 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday.
