HONOLULU – The Chaminade University softball team concluded the 2026 season Friday by dropping their doubleheader to in-state rival University of Hawai'i Hilo at Silversword Field at Sand Island Park.
Two big innings – one in each game – led to the Silverswords' undoing in the twin bill finale. The Vulcans scored five runs in the top of the sixth to take the matinee game, 7-0, then had a six-run fourth in the nightcap in their 8-2 win.
Ten of the 15 total runs plated by UH Hilo were unearned with the Vulcans winning three of the four meetings to win the season series. They also captured four more points towards the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
Chaminade finished the season 9-34 and 8-26 in the Pacific West Conference. UH Hilo improved to 23-14 and 20-10 in the conference to greatly enhance their chances to qualify for the upcoming PacWest Championships in two weeks in La Mirada, California.
The 'Swords celebrated the six seniors who played their final games;
Bailey Benson (Cheney, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory),
Miranda Diaz (Whittier, Calif./Cerritos College/California HS),
Mikala Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress College/Cypress HS),
Kamryn Lopez (Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial),
Isabel Rodriguez (Littleton, Colo./Columbine) and
Elora Tonaki (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Hawai'i Technology Academy).
Game 1: UHH 7, CUH 0
The first inning foreshadowed events to come for the rest of the afternoon. An error on a dropped catch led to an unearned run while Hawai'i Hilo got its second run two innings later on a wild pitch.
Then came the top of the sixth. The Vulcans scored on consecutive bases-loaded walks then put the capper with a bases-clearing triple by Chenoa Cainglit with an error earlier in the frame causing all of Cainglit's RBIs to be unearned.
CUH managed just two hits off UH Hilo starter Madison Rabe; Jacobsen's lead-off infield single in the bottom of the first and
Sunni Kahanu's (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/University of Hawai'i/Mililani HS) base knock in the fourth.
Ava Walker (Las Vegas/Faith Lutheran) threw 121 pitches, her third-most this season, in suffering the hard luck defeat, going 5 1/3 frames with five unearned runs before
Kayden Lopez (Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial) went the final 1 2/3.
UH Hilo had seven hits but also drew nine walks while Rabe picked up the win.
Game 2: UHH 8, CUH 2
After the Vulcans scored the game's first run in the top of the first, the Silverswords responded in their half of the frame. Kahanu, moving up the leadoff spot in the lineup card, singled off Hilo starter Janessa Santos, ending her streak of 9 2/3 hitless innings, and eventually came home on a passed ball. Diaz then roped a single to center, allowing Jacobsen to score, giving Chaminade a 2-1 lead.
Hawai'i Hilo knotted it at 2 in the third then the 'Swords ran into trouble in the fourth. Three errors in the inning led to six UH Hilo runs – five unearned – to give them an 8-2 lead.
Chaminade managed to get base runners in its next three innings including in the sixth with a leadoff double by
Summer Buck (Honolulu/Kaiser), her PacWest-leading 19th two-bagger of the season, tying the school's single season record set in 2018 by Jackie Najera. Diaz singled to move Buck to third but three straight strikeouts derailed the potential rally.
The 'Swords were retired in order in their final inning of the season.
The Silverswords managed seven hits off Santos, the winning pitcher, the most allowed by the Vulcans' ace in over a month. Jacobsen and Diaz got two hits each in their final games off Santos, who one-hit Chaminade back on Feb. 21 in Hilo.
In their final games in Chaminade royal and blue uniforms, Lopez was charged with the loss with just one run being earned while Benson went 6 1/3 in two different stints in the game, tying a career high with 102 pitches.
