Box Score

HONOLULU - The 17th-ranked University of Hawai`i softball team (24-10) pulled away from the 12th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats with a 6-1 win in the final game of the Bank of Hawaii Invitational tournament at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium tonight. Junior pitcher Courtney Baughman (11-6) earned the win with a complete-game performance, while NU's Lauren Delaney (11-6) took the loss.

Baughman fired seven innings, giving up one run on eight hits with a walk and three strike outs.

Northwestern scored first, posting a single run in the top of the third. With one out, Ashley Lafever reached first safely on a fielding error. She moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a ground out to first. Tammy Williams then got a line shot single up the middle to score Lafever from third.

Hawai`i answered right back. Valana Manuma started a rally in the bottom of the third. She got an infield single to deep shortstop to start things off. She moved to second on a wild pitch and then her sister, Malamaisaua Manuma, executed a sacrifice bunt to advance Valana Manuma to third. She scored on a wild pitch, knocking the ball away from the pitcher who was covering home, knotting the game up at 1-1 after three innings.

In the fourth, Melissa Gonzalez ripped a triple that bounced right under the diving rightfielder's glove down the first base line. Kate Robinson then drove her in on a little looper over the pitcher's head. The second baseman fielded the ball, but the throw home was late and Gonzalez slid past the tag. With Robinson on first, and no outs, Clare Warwick pushed her to second on a sacrifice bunt. Brandi Peiler then came up to bat and hit a grounder to third. The throw to first was wild, leaving Hawai`i runners at the corners. Richie-Anne Titcomb then was inserted at first as a pinch-runner. Valana Manuma then got her second hit of the game, a double to the leftfield fence that drove in both Robinson from third and Titcomb from first, putting UH up 4-1 after four innings.

The 'Bows added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to push their lead to 6-1. Tanisha Milca led the inning off with a double down the leftfield line. Kaulana Gould was hit by a pitch to put two runners on for Gonzalez who laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. Robinson then hit a high sacrifice fly to right-centerfield to drive in Milca from third and move Gould to third. Warwick then followed with a single to left to score Gould.

In the game, the Hawai`i defense made several clutch plays to halt the high-powered Northwestern offense. In the fourth, NU's clean-up hitter, Nicole Pauly, laced a single to right, but Milca charged hard, picked it up and fired to first to get the out. Erin Dyer follwed by reaching first on a bunt single. Jessica Rigas then got a hard hit up the middle, but shortstop Valana Manuma made a nice stop ranging to her left. She stepped on second and fired to first for a double play. In the sixth, Northwestern's Michelle Batts started the inning off with a double that went under the glove of a diving Milca in rightfield. Milca chased the ball down and fired to second baseman Gonzalez who then fired a perfect strike to Warwick at third on the relay to get Batts out on the slide.

Hawai`i now has a day off before opening their Western Athletic Conference season with a three-game series against New Mexico State on Monday, March 24 with a doubleheader starting at 5:00 pm, followed by a single game on March 25.

Results from earlier games...
Saint Mary's 1, Colorado State 6
California 1, No. 12 Northwestern 0