Box Score

HONOLULU - The 23rd ranked Rainbow Wahine softball team (25-7) pounded 13 hits en route to a 16-0 win over Nevada (7-17) in a non-conference game in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational. Junior pitcher Kate Robinson threw a two-hit, five inning shut-out. The win pushes her season record to 6-0 and it marked her sixth complete game and fourth shut-out this year. Seven Rainbow Wahine got at least one hit and all nine starters scored at least one run in the game.

Hawai`i's scoring started in the second inning. Senior first baseman Tyleen Tausaga began the rally with a solid single up the middle. After getting two quick ground outs, Nevada then made some errors that aided UH. Valana Manuma then hit a ground ball to short, but the first baseman bobbled the ball and did not get the out. That allowd Tausaga to scoot home for the game's first run. Manuma then stole second to get into scoring position for Alana Power. Still with two outs, Power hit a single up the middle to score Manuma from second. Next, Katie Grimes hit a hard single to center. But on the play, the ball ricocheted off of the centerfielder, allowing both Power and Grimes to advance into scoring position. Tanisha Milca then stepped to the plate and hit a ground ball to third, but her throw sailed into right field to score Power from third. Next, Clare Warwick hit a ground ball to short and the throw to first was off-line again, scoring Grimes from third. All-in-all, Hawai`i had three hits and scored four unearned runs after Nevada had two outs. The Wolf Pack though comitted three costly errors, and UH capitalized on them.

Hawai`i didn't score in the third, but in the fourth, they posted six runs to extend their lead to 10-0. The inning started with a pair of doubles. Power ripped a shot that landed just inside the third baseline in left field for the first one. Then Grimes picked up her second hit of the night with a double to left to drive in Power. It was Grimes' first RBI of her collegiate career. The hits kept coming. First, Milca had an infield single to third, then Warwick hit the third double of the inning to the right-centerfield gap. Kaulana Gould then hit a ground ball to the right side at second, allowing Milca to score. But on the play, the first baseman didn't make the catch for the out for another error. Nevada then tried to intentionally walk Tausaga, but the pitched sailed over their leaping catcher, allowing Warwick to score on the wild pitch. Robinson then came through with her first single of the night to drive in Gould from third. Next, Brandi Peiler hit a ground ball to the pitcher, allowing pinch runner Traci Yoshikawa to score from third for the sixth run of the inning.

In the fifth, it was more of the same for Hawai`i, scoring another six runs. Grimes led the inning off with a walk. Then Milca hit her eighth home run of the year over the left-centerfield fence. Warwick followed with a single to left and moved to second on a passed ball. Two batters later, with first base open, Nevada walked Tausaga again. Then Robinson hit UH's fourth double of the game to score Warwick. Peiler then stepped up with runners on second and third and hit a single to left to drive in Tausaga and move rrobinson to third. Manuma then battled for a walk and Power got her second RBI of the night with a ground out to short to score Robinson from third.

Robinson threw 5.0 innings, giving up only one single in the first and one in the third. She did not walk a batter and while striking out five. On the season, she has only walked seven with 43 strike oust to date.

Nevada's Tiffany Hoeft-Bass got the start, but also re-entered to finish the game for relief pitcher Jordan McPherson. In 3.2 innings, Hoeft-Bass gave up 10 runs (five earned) on eight hits with a walk and a strike out. McPherson threw 1.1 innings, giving up six runs on five hits with three walks.

Tomorrow's schedule is as follows:

10:00 am - No.2 Seed Hawai`i vs. No.3 Seed Nevada

12:00 pm - No.1 Seed California vs. No.4 Seed Baylor

2:00 pm - THIRD PLACE: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

4:00 pm - CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

-UH-