HONOLULU – The Chaminade University softball team opened their 2025 home slate Thursday at the Ulili Softball Invitational at the Sand Island Softball Complex.
Starting Year 3 on their home diamond at Silversword Field, the Silverswords were dealt with a 4-2 loss to the University of Nebraska-Kearney in their first game, then a 14-11 slugfest with Hillsdale College.
Vanessa Pena (Paramount, Calif./Paramount) drove in three runs during the two games while
Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) collected four more hits. The latter also scored four runs, extending her school record to 101 to become the first Silversword to reach the century mark in runs scored.
Chaminade fell to 1-8 in the start of the season.
Game 1: UNK 4, CUH 2
With Chaminade being designated as the visiting team, Fujioka led off the third with a towering triple to right. Peña, batting second in the lineup card, got Chaminade on the board with a single to right.
The Lopers tacked on a three spot in the bottom half of the frame then another in the fifth.
In the top of the seventh, the 'Swords loaded the bases where
Miranda Diaz (Whittier, Calif./Cerritos College/California HS) brought Peña in from third with a one-out bouncer to second. The throw to first was late, but on an appeal, Diaz was tagged and called out for not touching the bag, which ended the game.
CUH was held to four hits in the opener. Starter
Bailey Benson (Cheney, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory) went three innings to take the loss.
Jerzie Schindler got the win for UNK with Daniella Morillas getting a six-out save.
Game 2: HC 14, CUH 11
Unlike the first game pitching duel, the second game turned out to be a hit-fest with 28 total base hits. It was also a walk-this-way motif with a combined 24 batters reaching via base-on-balls.
The game lasted nearly three hours and the complex was in near darkness when the final out was recorded. Between the six pitchers, there were 399 total pitches with just 194 thrown for strikes.
The theme of the contest seemed to be set early with
SoSo Hayes (Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Bar) and Diaz both drawing bases-loaded walks in the bottom of the first.
Larchelle Tuifao (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kapolei) gave CUH its third run of the frame, scoring from third when the Chargers' second baseman bounced a throw to home in an attempt to get Tuifao.
Hillsdale, the Michigan-based team, scored twice in the second then tacked on five in the fourth.
The Silverswords countered in their half of the fourth with an RBI single from Tuifao, a two-run triple from
SoSo Hayes (Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Bar) and a run-scoring knock by Diaz which knotted the game at 7.
Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress) then was plunked with the bases loaded to put them up, 8-7, followed by a walk drawn by Fujioka with the bases juiced as CUH sent 12 batters to the plate.
But Hillsdale responded in the visitor's half of the fifth with 10 batters getting at-bats resulting in four runs to take a 11-9 lead. They tacked on three more in the seventh.
Chaminade managed to get two runs back in its half of the seventh on Peña's bloop double that fell in front of a diving Hillsdale outfielder but it wasn't enough to send them to their seventh straight defeat.
The Silverswords had 13 hits with Fujioka getting three from her usual lead-off position while Peña, Tuifao, Diaz and
Isabel Rodriguez (Littleton, Colo./Columbine) got two each. Hayes drove in a team-high three runs.
Malia Cordova (Wildomar, Calif./Elsinore) took the loss in relief with freshman starter
Ava Walker (Las Vegas/Faith Lutheran) throwing 156 pitches, the fourth-highest since total pitches starting being tracked in 2014, and the most since Madelyn Stockslager's 161 at Hawai'i Pacific in March 2021.
Grace Harris picked up the win for Hillsdale and Joni Russell getting a two-inning save.
The Silverswords will face Cal Poly Humboldt in a doubleheader on Friday at Silversword Field. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
