WAIPAHU, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University baseball team on Friday opened their four-game Pacific West Conference series against Jessup University by falling in an 11-9 slugfest at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park (CORP) Baseball Complex.
Chaminade, which had its trouble plating runs in the first two weeks of the season, has scored six or more runs in five of its last seven games.
Cade Fujii (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Porterville College/Kapolei HS) and
Taylor Ayala (Bountiful, Utah/Salt Lake CC/Woods Cross HS) each had two of the Silverswords' 11 base knocks on the afternoon with former bringing home three. Ayala and
Alex Greb (Seattle/Wenatchee Valley College/Ballard HS) both drove in two more.
The 'Swords fell to 4-14 and 2-11 in the PacWest while the Warriors improved to 10-8 and 8-7.
Down 9-2 in the top of the fifth, CUH got right back into the mix with four runs in its half of the frame, capped by Ayala's two-RBI single.
Jessup responded and made it 11-6 before the 'Swords scored two in the seventh and one in the eighth inning to close the gap to 11-9. Chaminade then managed to get the tying run to the plate in the ninth but could not bring them across.
Chris Cody (Orange, Calif./Irvine Valley College/El Modena HS) went the first 4 1/3 innings while
Tyler Geivet (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Niguel) went the final 4 2/3. Cody took the loss.
Hilo native Loren Iwata, Jessup's second pitcher out of the bullpen, got the win while Joey Miller earned the save.
The Silverswords and Warriors face each other in a seven-inning doubleheader at CORP Baseball Complex Saturday starting at 2 p.m.
