WAIPAHU, O'ahu, Hawai'i – Fresh off winning their four-game series against Hawai'i Pacific University, the Chaminade University baseball team began their first four-game Pacific West Conference series Friday in a first-ever meeting against Fresno Pacific at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park (CORP) Baseball Complex.
The Silverswords banged out a season-high 16 hits in the opening game for a 10-7 win which extended their winning streak to four.
But the Sunbirds had 14 in the second game to end the 'Swords streak in a 15-7 victory during the seven-inning nightcap.
Joe DuCoeur (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Lake City) went 4-for-4 in Game 1 with three RBI while current PacWest Player of the Week
Ryan Ruch (San Diego/Patrick Henry) continued to wear out opposing pitching by going 5-for-7 and raise his batting average to a conference-leading .514.
Chaminade is 9-10 on the season with a 2-2 PacWest mark while Fresno Pacific is 6-6 and 2-4 in the conference.
Game 1: CUH 10, FPU 7
Cato Kleinman (Westlake Village, Calif./Monterey Peninsula College/Westlake HS) got the 'Swords scoring going in the bottom of the second with an RBI groundout. Chaminade got its second run when a pickoff attempt by the FPU pitcher to nab
JT Navyac (Kailua, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Cal State Fullerton/Saint Louis HS) at first bounced away, allowing
Jackson Dorn (Happy Valley, Ore./Mt. Hood CC/Clackamas HS) to cross.
Caleb Kim (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Christian Academy) made it a three-run frame with a run-scoring single.
The 'Swords got two more runs in the third for a 5-0 lead but the Sunbirds scored four times and closed to within 5-4 in the top of the seventh. Kleinman added to the CUH lead to 6-4 on an RBI infield single. Then with the bases loaded, DuCoeur promptly cleared them by doubling to the gap in right center to put Chaminade up, 9-4, followed by Kim's second RBI of the game, hitting a comebacker that ricocheted off the pitcher and into shallow right field.
The Sunbirds made things uneasy for the 'Swords, plating three in the ninth before
Matthew Orozco (San Leandro, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) tossed the final 2/3 innings to finally end it.
Max Patterson (Honolulu/Olympic College/Kalani HS), whose last outing was a dominant two-hit complete-game shutout of HPU on Feb. 23, didn't post similar numbers but did go 6 1/3 innings, scattering six hits and allowing four runs, three earned, on three strikeouts to earn the win, improving to 2-1. Orozco picked up his first save of the year.
Along with DuCoeur's perfect Game 1 at the plate, Ruch went 3-for-3 with Klineman driving in three.
Connor Semone suffered his first loss of the year, falling to 3-1.
Game 2: FPU 15, CUH 7
It appeared a repeat of the first game was in order with Chaminade scoring four times in the first when
Jake Harper (San Pedro, Calif./El Camino College/San Pedro HS) came in on an error, followed by an RBI single by Ruch and a two-run double by
Jackson Dorn (Happy Valley, Ore./Mt. Hood CC/Clackamas HS).
FPU answered with three in the second and three more in the third to take a 6-4 lead.
Casey Kudell (Irvine, Calif./Irvine Valley College/Irvine HS) tied it with a two-run double in the fourth followed by Ruch's Baltimore chop single to first, allowing Kudell to score from second, putting the Silverswords ahead, 7-6.
But Fresno Pacific quickly answered, leading off the fifth with a homer from Donte Valdez to tie it at 7, then took the lead for good when brother Andrew Valdez doubled with the bases juiced for a 10-7 lead. FPU tacked on five more runs in the final two innings.
Kudell and Ruch each had two and both extended their hitting streaks to six and seven, respectively. The former had three RBI while the latter, along with Dorn, drove in a pair.
Zac Brown (Tustin, Calif./Mater Dei) fell to 1-1 with the loss while Gino Helmuth got the win to improve to 1-1.
The Silverswords and Sunbirds conclude their four-game series Saturday at CORP with a nine-inning contest at 3 p.m. followed by the seven-inning finale at 6 p.m.
