HONOLULU – After being stymied with just five hits in the opener of their final home series of the season against Vanguard University, the Chaminade University softball team put on a hitting clinic in the second game of their Friday doubleheader at Silversword Field at Sand Island Park.
Unfortunately, their 17 hits, the most in a game in 14 years, could not prevent them from dropping the nightcap, 10-7. They also lost the opener, 3-1, to one of the three Pacific West Conference newcomers.
All four Chaminade seniors had significant afternoons:
- Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) had six base hits including a 5-for-5 outing in the second game which tied the school record for hits in a single game. She tripled twice in Game 2 and was a home run shy of the cycle.
- Larchelle Tuifao (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kapolei) broke out of a recent slump with three hits in the second game including two homers which moved her into fourth in the program's all-time home run list.
- Desiree Bravo (Corona, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College/Centennial HS) had three combined hits on the afternoon including two in the nightcap and scored twice.
- Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress) also had three total hits including a double.
The Silverswords fell to 8-39 on the season and 7-25 in the PacWest. Vanguard improved to 16-27 and 11-16 in the conference.
Game 1: VU 3, CUH 1
After the Lions plated the first run, Chaminade got it back in the third with Fujioka's RBI triple. But Vanguard got RBIs from Kamryn Walker in the fourth and sixth innings to take a two-run lead while the 'Swords managed just one base runner – Jacobsen's single in the sixth – in the final two innings.
Bailey Benson (Cheney, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory) scattered 10 hits in her complete game effort in picking up a hard-luck loss.
Brianna Williams got the win for Vanguard.
Game 2: VU 10, CUH 7
The Silverswords didn't waste any time in the nightcap, getting two runs in the first on a double steal which resulted in Fujioka scoring the first run. Tuifao made it 2-0, lashing an RBI single. They made it 3-0 in the second on Fujioka's triple, allowing
Gabriella Schneider (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Alta Loma) to scamper all the way from first.
After the Lions closed the deficit to 3-2, Tuifao mashed her first home jack of the season to dead center field, giving the 'Swords a 4-2 lead.
However, Vanguard scored eight in the next two innings to go up, 10-4. Tuifao answered in the fifth with a monstrous homer to left, a two-run blast and sixth of the season, to bring the 'Swords to within 10-6, becoming the first player in the three-year history of Silversword Field to have a two-homer game. It was also her second career multi-homer game.
In the home half of the seventh, Fujioka scorched a clutch two-out, ground-rule RBI double to right center to cut the deficit to 10-7 and bring the tying run to the plate. But a hanging lineout towards center stopped the rally.
The Silverswords' 17 hits tied for second most in program history and two shy of the record set in April 1995 against Whittier. They also had 17 against Gustavus Adolphus in February 2011
Fujioka's five-hit game tied the program record set in February 2006 by Tara Hiramatsu while her six total hits gives her 191 in her career as she looks to become the first Silversword to reach 200 with just four games remaining.
Tuifao drove in four while her two homers gave her 14 in her career, moving her past Rayna Strom-Okimoto for fourth in the career home runs. Bravo and
Summer Buck (Honolulu/Kaiser) both had two hits in the nightcap.
Vanessa Pena (Paramount, Calif./Paramount) took the loss for the Silverswords.
Malia Cordova (Wildomar, Calif./Elsinore) came out of the bullpen and finished the game with three scoreless innings.
Mia Iacomini got the win in relief for the Lions.
With Vanguard also posting 17 hits, the combined 34 knocks is a Silversword Field record.
The two teams will wrap up their series on Saturday at noon. The Silverswords will also honor Bravo, Fujioka, Jacobsen and Tuifao following the game.
