Box Score

HONOLULU - The 16th ranked University of Hawai`i softball team (18-6) got off to a slow start, but once the power kicked in, UH rolled to a 9-0 victory over Maine (0-19) on the opening day of the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament. Kate Robinson and Brandi Peiler hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth to highlight the `Bows' offense which pounded out a season-high 19 hits. Junior pitcher Courtney Baughman fired a two-hit, complete-game shut-out.

For Baughman (9-3), it was her 10th complete game and fourth shut-out of the season. She faced only 24 batters, three over the minimum and had a walk and two strike outs for the game.

In the first inning, UH was able to put runners on, but the Black Bears excaped unscathed. Tanisha Milca led the game off with a double to leftfield. Melissa Gonzalez then was hit-by-a-pitch to put runners on first and second. After a fly out to right, Robinson hit a single to leftfield to load the bases. Peiler then hit a ground ball to third, but the Maine third baseman Terran Hall gunned down Milca trying to score from third on the force at home. Then with two outs, Clare Warwick hit a ground ball to short, who threw to third to get the inning-ending force out.

In the third, Hawai`i posted its first run. Gonzalez got a single up the middle to lead the inning off. But on the play, the centerfielder misplayed the ball, but recovered and cut down Gonzalez at second. Kaulana Gould then laced a triple down the rightfield line. After a ground out to short, Peiler hit a hard grounder to short for an infield single that scored Gould.

The Rainbow Wahine added another run in the fourth after Gonzalez drilled a double to the left-centerfield gap that scored Valana Manuma from second. Manuma had led the inning off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball.

In the fifth, with one out, the 'Bows rallied to load the bases again. But the Black Bears thwarted the opportunity with a double play. Manuma hit a shallow fly to right and Warwick tried to score from third after tagging. But Maine's Erin Iandoli made a solid throw on the play and got Warwick out on the slide home to end the inning.

With one out in the sixth, Gonzalez sparked another Hawai`i rally with a single to short. After a fly out to right, Robinson hit a high fly to leftfield that sailed over the fence for her ninth home run of the year. Peiler then did the same with a fly to left that just cleared the fence for back-to-back homers and a three-run sixth to push UH's lead to 5-0 going into the bottom of the sixth.

In the top of the seventh, Traci Yoshikawa got her first hit of her collegiate career to start the inning. Maine then got their second double play of the game when Manuma hit a slow liner back to the pitcher and caught Yoshikawa off of first. But Hawai`i would go on to score four runs in the inning. Pinch hitter Audrey Andrade started things by drawing a walk. Gonzalez then hit her second double of the game to put both runners in scoring position for Gould who followed with a single to the left-centerfield gap, driving in both Andrade and Gonzalez. Robinson then got a single to left and Peiler drew a walk to load the bases for Warwick who came through with a line drive double to left-center to score pinch runner Kate Adams and Robinson to end UH's scoring spree.

The Black Bears had three pitchers throw in the game. Starter Christine McGiveny took the loss after giving up two runs on eight hits with two walks and three strike outs in 3.1 innings pitched. Cayleigh Montano then threw the next 3.1 innings and gave up six runs on nine hits with a walk and two strike outs. Jenna Balent closed the game, but she gave up one run on two hits before getting the final out of the seventh inning.

Hawai`i continues its play in the tournament tomorrow against Texas at 6:00 pm. They will also play Maine again at 8:00 pm in a non-tournament game.

EARLIER GAME SCORES
Texas 1, North Carolina 2

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Texas Tech 6, Maine 1