HONOLULU-The University of Hawai'i softball team concluded the Kama'aina Classic with a doubleheader sweep over Chaminade today at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The 'Bows won the first game, 10-1, then pulled away in the second game, 23-0.

 

 

 

The 'Bows jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Freshman centerfielder Kelly Majam led the bottom of the first inning off with a home run over the rightfield fence. After a ground out, junior third baseman, Melissa Gonzalez, continued her hot hitting with a solo home run of her own that sailed high over the leftfield fence. Sophomore designated player Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu then drilled a hit up the middle to keep things going. Pinch runner Brynne Buchanan stole second and then scored on a single to rightfield by Amanda Tauali'i. Mikalemi Tagab-Cruz entered as a pinch-runner for Taualii and executed a delayed steal to second. A groundout moved Tagab-Cruz to third and then scored on a passed ball to increase UH's lead to 4-0.

 

In the second inning, Gonzalez struck again, launching her second home run of the game to centerfield to increase Hawai'i's lead to 5-0.

 

In the third, freshman shortstop Jessica Iwata led the inning off by legging out an infield single to the hole at short. Chaminade then got the next two batters to fly out to right. Iwata then stole second. Senior catcher, Katie Grimes, then hit a home run to centerfield, making the score 7-0 after three complete innings.

 

Senior infielder Traci Yoshikawa led the fifth inning off with an opposite field single to right. Chaminade got two pop-ups but then issued a walk to Sarah Robinson to continue the inning. Pinch-hitter, freshman first baseman Jori Jasper was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu, who singled to center. On the play both Yoshikawa and Robinson scored easily, but then Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu got caught in a run down between first and second that allowed Jasper to scoot home as well. Chaminade's run-down though, resulted in a throwing error by the second baseman that let Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu run all the way to third.

 

Hawai'i's Stephanie Ricketts fired the first four innings for the 'Bows, holding Chaminade off the scoreboard. She allowed just two hits with no walks and a pair of strike outs. In her two appearances in the Kama''aina Classic, Ricketts gave up no runs and just two hits, while fanning eight batters in nine total innings pitched. Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu threw two innings in relief. She gave up one, unearned run on two hits with two walks and a strike out. Freshman Williams then saw her first action as a Rainbow Wahine, throwing the final inning. Williams downed all three batters she faced with a pair of groundouts to second and a foul-fly out to third base.

 

For Chaminade, Kasy'e Lalau threw the first 3.1 innings before leaving with an injury. She yielded seven runs on nine hits with a walk and a strike out. Kelly Korras was the relief pitcher and threw the final 2.2 innings. Korras gave up three runs on three hits with two walks and a strike out.

 

Hawai'i's offense was led by Gonzalez, who was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two home runs. Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu was 3-for-4 with two RBI, Yoshikawa was 2-for-3 and both Majam and Grimes had one home run a piece.

 

Box Score

Hawai'i posted four runs in the bottom of the first to get things going. Majam drew a walk to start the rally. Rodriguez followed with a double to the left-centerfield gap that allowed Majam to scoot all the way home from first. Gonzalez then reached on a fielding error on the shortstop to put two runners at the corners. Buchanan pinch-ran for Gonzalez and stole second to push both runners into scoring position. After a groundout, Tauali`i drove both runners in with a single to the right-centerfield gap. Pinch-runner Tagab-Cruz stole second and then scored on a triple to right by Iwata. Chaminade then ended the rally with a 4-3-2 double play.

 

After a scoreless second inning, UH erupted for five runs in the third. Gonzalez reached on a throwing error to first by the shortstop to start the inning. Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu drew a walk and Tauali`i got an infield pop-up hit to load the bases. Iwata was hit by the pitch, forcing a run in. Kanani Pu'u-Warren then got a single to left to drive in two runs and Robinson followed with an RBI single to right, pushing UH's lead to 9-0.

 

In the fourth inning, UH added x runs. Gonzalez hit a double to right-centerfield to begin the inning. Alex Aguirre then got a single through the leftside of the infield to put runners at the corners. A successful double steal pushed a run home and after an infield pop-up, Iwata smacked her second triple of the game down the rightfield line to drive in Aguirre from second. Pu'u-Warren followed with a double to right that scored Iwata. Later, Pu'u-Warren scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Grimes to increase UH's lead to 13-0.

 

Hawai'i added one run in the fifth with a solo home run to leftfield by Rodriguez.

 

The 'Bows then tallied nine runs in the sixth inning. Tagab-Cruz got things going with a walk. Two errors on the Chaminade infield loaded the bases for pinch hitter, Ricketts who powered a high fly ball over the leftfield fence. The inning continued with a single by Dara Pagaduan, and after a strike out, another single by Tara Anguiano. Yoshikawa then came through with a single to right to score Pagaduan. Tagab-Cruz was hit by a pitch to load the bases., then Robinson cleared the bases with the second grand slam of the inning. All nine runs in the inning were unearned.

 

The duo of Gonzalez and Rodriguez combined for the four-hit shut-out. Gonzalez earned the win, tossing five shut-out innings. She scattered four hits with a walk and four strike outs. Rodriguez came in to close the game out, retiring all six batters she faced.

 

For Chaminade, Chelsi Walls took the loss, giving up nine runs on seven hits with two walks. Korras finished the final 4.0 innings, allowing 14 runs on 11 hits with a walk and four strike outs.

 

For the four-game series, Gonzalez led UH by hitting .800 (8-for-10) with three doubles, two home runs, and nine RBI. Iwata had a solid performance at the plate, going 6-for-9 for a .667 average. She led UH with six runs scored while hitting a pair of triples and a home run with seven RBI. Rodriguez also made an immediate impact in her first series as a 'Bow. She hit an even .500 (6-for-12) with two doubles and a home run. 

Hawai`i's next outing is next week Friday, Nov. 13 when the 'Bows battle their Alumnae at 6:00 pm.


Team Statistics for Kama'aina Classic

                                                                                                                       -UH-