SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Chaminade University baseball team wrapped up their road trip Saturday, dropping their final twin bill at nationally ranked Westmont College, 7-2 and 7-6, at Russell Carr Field.
For the second time on the road trip, first baseman
Safea Villaruz-Mauai (Hilo, Hawai'i/BYU/Waiakea HS) went yard with the bases loaded and had four hits on the afternoon.
Jackson Dorn (Happy Valley, Ore./Mt. Hood CC/Clackamas HS) also homered for the Silverswords who fell to 3-8 and 2-6 in the Pacific West Conference.
Westmont, ranked No. 16 in the NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) Media Poll, swept the four-game series and extended its winning streak to 12 to improve to 13-2 and 8-0 in the PacWest.
Game 1: WC 7, CUH 2
For the third straight game in the series, the 'Swords grabbed the early lead when Dorn crushed a solo shot to centerfield in the top of the second inning. The Warriors plated the next two runs but in the fifth, Dorn reached on a strike three wild pitch, stole second and got to third on another wild pitch, ultimately scoring the tying run, thanks to a sacrifice fly from
Cade Fujii (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Porterville College/Kapolei HS).
But Westmont scored five times in the seventh to take the third game of the series.
Casey Kudell (Irvine, Calif./Irvine Valley College/Irvine HS) had three hits in Saturday's opener while Dorn and
Aydan Lobetos (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) both had two.
Xavier Stoker (Cedar City, Utah/College of the Canyons//Canyon View HS) took the loss in relief.
Josh Hickey got the win coming out of the pen.
Game 2: WC 7, CUH 6
After leading off the game with three straight walks, Villaruz-Mauai unloaded them, taking Hunter Hammond's 1-1 pitch and yanking down the right field line which gave the 'Swords the opening runs for the fourth time in the series. It was the senior slugger's second grand slam of the week after doing the same on Monday at Azusa Pacific, and was his third homer of the season.
But the lead evaporated in the second when Westmont plated five runs to take the lead.
Chaminade tied it in the third on an RBI ground out by
Alex Greb (Seattle/Wenatchee Valley College/Ballard HS) but an error and bases-loaded hit batter gave the home team the 7-5 edge in the bottom half of the inning.
Down to the seventh and final inning, Kuddel's RBI ground out made it 7-6 while also putting
Andrew Karns (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Coeur d'Alene) at second base. With two outs, Villaruz-Mauai chopped a base hit to left but Karns was thrown out at home, preventing the tying run from scoring to end the game.
Villaruz-Mauai had three of CUH's six hits while
Neville Till (Maple Valley, Wash./Tahoma) took the loss in relief.
Wailuku, Maui native Cade Fujioka got the win for Westmont while Zach Yates earned his second save of the series.
The Silverswords return home from their 12-day road trip and are right back on the diamond on Monday when they host Division I Wichita State at the University of Hawai'i Manoa's Les Murakami Stadium. First pitch is at 2 p.m. Because the game is during normal UH operating hours, parking for the general public will be limited. Ride-sharing and public transportation is being highly encouraged. There is no admission charge for Monday's game.
