HONOLULU – The Chaminade University baseball team concluded a run of 20 straight games on O'ahu on Sunday with 12-2 and 5-1 defeats to Westmont College at Les Murakami Stadium on the University of Hawai'i Manoa campus.
The twin bill also completed an 11-game home stand for the Silverswords. The losses dropped the 'Swords to 11-18 overall and 4-9 in the Pacific West Conference.
Westmont, in its first year in NCAA Division II but captured the 2023 NAIA national championship in its final year there, improved to 18-7-3 and 10-1-1 in the PacWest. The Warriors went 8-0 in their Hawai'i trip.
Game 1: WC 12, CUH 2 (8 inn.)
JT Navyac (Kailua, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Cal State Fullerton/Saint Louis HS), who entered the day swinging a hot bat (8-for-16 in his last previous four games), opened the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.
But the Warriors as a team were also swinging heavy sticks, getting six runs over the next two innings.
Ryan Ruch (San Diego/Patrick Henry) ripped a third inning double to not only get a run back, but also extended his hitting streak to 15.
The Warriors added on with runs in the fifth and seventh innings, taking an 11-2 lead. In the eighth, they tacked on another run to take a 12-2 lead to invoke the 10-run rule.
Needing a run to keep the game going,
Casey Kudell (Irvine, Calif./Irvine Valley College/Irvine HS) got a one-out walk and got to third but was left stranded.
Ruch was Chaminade's lone multi-hit batter with two of the team's six base hits.
Xavier Stoker (Cedar City, Utah/College of the Canyons//Canyon View HS) suffered the loss to fall to 2-3.
Sean Youngerman got the win to improve to 5-0.
Game 2: WC 5, CUH 1
The Warriors struck three times in the first inning and added two more in the third.
Meanwhile Westmont starter Ryan Humphreys was in an early groove, throwing three perfect innings.
Jake Harper (San Pedro, Calif./El Camino College/San Pedro HS) opened the fourth with a nine-pitch at-bat including fouling off five pitches before drawing a walk to end the perfect game.
The 'Swords could not touch Humphreys until the bottom of the sixth.
Andrew Karns (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Coeur d'Alene), in the starting lineup due to an injury to regular starting second baseman
Cato Kleinman (Westlake Village, Calif./Monterey Peninsula College/Westlake HS), roped a liner off Humphrey's foot for an infield single, ending his bid for a no-hitter. Kudell ended the shutout on a sacrifice fly.
The 'Swords were unable to get baserunners in the seventh, the final inning of regulation.
Navyac got the start on the mound but took the loss to fall to 0-3. Ruch went 0-for-3 to end his hitting streak.
Humphreys improved to 3-0, striking out nine in 5 1/3 innings. The Warriors ended their Hawai'i trip as offensive juggernauts, amassing 84 runs and 97 hits during their two four-game series against CUH and Hawai'i Pacific University.
The Silverswords will head to Southern California for their first and only mainland trip of the season. The 'Swords open their 12-game foray with a four-game series at Biola University on Friday. First pitch is set for 9 a.m. Hawai'i time.
