Box Score

HONOLULU - The 17th-ranked University of Hawai`i softball team pulled away from Colorado State, 8-1, on the second day of the Bank of Hawaii Invitational at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium tonight. Senior Jessica Morton earned the complete-game win and freshman second baseman Melissa Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run to help lead Hawai`i over the Rams.

Morton (4-0) threw seven innings, giving up one run on six hits with a walk and five strike outs. The one run came off a fifth inning solo-home run by CSU's Lauren Cusick.

The Rams used three pitchers tonight. Kim Klabough (5-7) took the loss, throwing the first 3.1 innings. She gave up five runs on seven hits with two strike outs. Rebecca Penland then came in for the next 2.2 innings, giving up three runs on three hits with four strike outs. Erin Daugharthy closed the game, giving up one hit with a strike out in the final inning.

Hawai`i got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second. Gonzalez got a one-out single to left. Katie Grimes then followed by lacing a double to the right-centerfield gap, driving Gonzalez home from first to give UH an early 1-0 lead.

In the third, Clare Warwick led the inning off with a hard hit back to the pitcher. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kaulana Gould. Kate Robinson then hit a fly to rightfield that Warwick tagged on to advance to third. Next Brandi Peiler was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. Valana Manuma then hit a ground ball to short that led to a fielding error, allowing Warwick to score from third and leaving runners on first and second. Gonzalez followed by drilling a home run over the leftfield fence to push Hawai`i's lead to 5-0. It was her first home run of her collegiate career. She also hit a homer on March 7th in an exhibition game against the Netherlands.

The Rams got their only run in the bottom of the fifth when Cusick launched a home run to leftfield, cutting UH's lead to 5-1.

Hawai`i finished the game by scoring three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Warwick started the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Lefty hitter Gould then ripped a double down the rightfield line and Warwick sprinted around the bases to score from first base. Robinson followed with a single back to the pitcher to put runners on the corners. With runners at first and third, UH attempted a double steal. The catcher faked to second then turned back to third and got Gould in a run-down between third and home. Gould was caught in a pickle, 2-to-5-to-2-to-6, but the shortstop's final throw home that would've got Gould at the plate, was wild allowing the run to score. While Gould was caught in the run-down, Robinson hustled around the bases to take Gould's place at third. But with the wild throw bouncing around the backstop, Robinson raced home for the second run on the play. That left Hawai`i with a 8-1 lead and the win.

The 'Bows have one game tomorrow on the third day of the tournament. They will face Saint Mary's of California at 4:00 pm in the final game of the day.

Game Schedule - Friday, March 21
12:00 pm - Northwestern vs. California
2:00 pm - Northwestern vs. Colorado State
4:00 pm - HAWAI`I VS. SAINT MARY'S

Results from earlier games today...
St. Mary's 3, Colorado State 4 (8 innings)
Colorado State 0, California 7
*Cal's Marissa Drewrey fired a complete game no-hitter