Box Score

HONOLULU - The Rainbow Wahine softball team (33-7, 6-0 WAC) swept a three-game series with Louisiana Tech by pulling away with a 7-3 win. Sophomore pitcher Justine Smethurst (13-5, 2-0 WAC) picked up the win and junior Jessica Morton earned a save throwing the final three-plus innings. Hawai`i has won nine straight games and their last 20 of 22 games.

Hawai`i started the game quickly on offense. Richie-Anne Titcomb led the game off with a single to left. She was followed by Clare Warwick who drew a walk. Kaulana Gould then executed a sacrifice bunt to move both into scoring position. Then with two outs, Kate Robinson drilled a double to the left-centerfield gap, driving in both Titcomb and Warwick who were running with two outs. After one complete inning, UH led 2-0.

In the second, Hawai`i added three more runs. The rally started after Valana Manuma led the inning off with a solo home run over the leftfield fence. Alana Power followed with a single up the middle. Katie Grimes then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Power to second. After a fly out, Warwick drew her second walk of the game. Gould, with two outs, then ripped a double to right-centerfield, driving in both Power and Warwick. After two innings, Hawai`i led 5-0.

But Louisiana Tech would battle back. Kylie Bassett led the fifth inning off with a single to right. Smethurst then walked the next two batters to load the bases. Carly White then hit a bloop single to left, scoring Bassett. Then Danielle Sheridan hit another single to left to score Lyndsey McIlwain. Morton then entered the game with the bases still loaded and no outs. She got the first batter she faced to fly out to center. Then Amber Waits got the third bloop single to left in the inning, to score Chritine Echols. Morton then got the next two Lady Techsters to strike out to end the inning. But La Tech had cut the Hawai`i lead to 5-3.

The score would remain that way until the bottom of the sixth, when UH would add a couple of insurance runs. Manuma led the inning off with a single third. Then with two outs, freshman Amanda Taualii pinch hit and smashed a home run over the left-centerfield fence. For Tauali`i, it was her second homer of the season.

La Tech's Krissi Oliver (11-12, 0-2 WAC) threw a complete game, giving up seven runs on 10 hits with two walks and two strike outs.

Smethurst threw 4-plus innings, giving up three runs on five hits with two walks and five K's. Morton picked up her first save of the year. She is 8-1 on the season with all of the her wins coming in relief. Morton held the Lady Techsters scoreless in the final three-plus innings. She scattered three hits while striking out six.

Hawai`i will next hit the road for eight games; a three game series at San Jose State, a double header at Santa Clara, and a three game series at New Mexico State.

-UH-