SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Chaminade University softball team on Saturday dropped their series-ending doubleheader to Jessup University, their first of four three-game series in their northern California road trip.
Playing at Foothill High School as Jessup's home field at Foskett Regional Park was closed by the City of Lincoln because of the recent heavy rain, the Silverswords dropped the first game, 9-2, then the series finale, 5-3.
Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) totaled four hits on the day including a pair of triples, both in the backend of the twin bill, while
Miranda Diaz (Whittier, Calif./Cerritos College/California HS) also had hits in both. The pair also extended their hitting streaks to five games.
The Silverswords fell to 4-26 and 3-12 in the Pacific West Conference while Jessup, a first-year PacWest member, swept the series and improved to 14-13 and 8-4 in the conference.
Game 1: JSP 9, CUH 2
The Warriors got all they needed in just two innings; a four-run first and a four-run fifth.
Meanwhile, the 'Swords managed to get base runners in every frame and finally broke through in the fourth. They loaded the bases then a throwing error allowed
Vanessa Pena (Paramount, Calif./Paramount) and
Summer Buck (Honolulu/Kaiser) to trot home, cutting the deficit to 4-2 which is as close as they got in the second game of the series.
Fujioka had two of Chaminade's five hits. Peña took the loss although she struck out a career-high four in her 4 2/3 innings.
Bella MacFarlane picked up the win for the Warriors.
Game 2: JSP 5, CUH 3
The 'Swords finally took advantage of the expansive 235-foot outfield, getting a pair of first-inning triples. The first from Fujioka to lead off the game followed by one from
Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress) to drive in the game's first run and Chaminade's first lead in the series. Both were slashed into the right field corner.
But Jessup responded by posting three runs in its half of the first then got two more in the second.
Fujioka's second triple of the game, an opposite field knock in the third and the school-record 20th of her career, led to Diaz's RBI single, helping Chaminade close to within 5-2.
Buck's two-out, bases-loaded RBI base knock in the fifth made it 5-3 and put the tying run in scoring position. But the 'Swords could not push the runs across which would be their final inning with base runners.
Fujioka's two triples tied her with
Keaolani Takemura-Brehme and Rayna Strom-Okimoto for the most three-baggers in a game. Not only were their hitting streaks extended, Diaz saw her on-base streak reach 12 straight games while Fujioka's is at 11.
Bailey Benson (Cheney, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory) took the loss while
Ava Walker (Las Vegas/Faith Lutheran) pitched the final two innings without allowing a run and just two hits.
Jazlyn Villavicencio got the win for the Warriors.
The Silverswords will open a three-game series at Dominican University of California on Monday. The opening twin bill starts at 9 a.m. Hawai'i time.
