Box Score
RENO, Nev. - The No. 18 University of Hawai`i softball team (31-14, 7-4 WAC) fell to Nevada, 13-10 as the Wolf Pack completed the three-game conference series sweep in a slugfest at the Christina M. Hixson Park. In the loss, senior
Kate Robinson broke UH's career home run record by blasting her 39th in her career and 16th this season.
Nevada came out firing in the first inning and never looked back. Brittany Puzey and Vanessa Briones started the rally with two singles. Clean-up hitter Britton Murdock then drew a walk to load the bases for Sam Bias who launched a grand slam over the leftfield fence. Kelsey Starr then drilled a double down the leftfield line, moved to third on a ground out to short and scored on a single by Danielle Patrick. After one complete inning, UNR held a 5-0 lead.
UH answered back in the top of the second, chipping three runs away. Clare Warwick started the inning off with a double to leftfield. Valana Manuma then hit a hard ground ball up the middle that ricocheted off the shortstop and trickled into centerfield for a double and an RBI. Then, Richie-Anne Titcomb hit a two-run home run over the leftfield fence, cutting UNR's lead to 5-3.
The Wolf Pack got two runs back in the third on an RBI single by Danielle Patrick that drove in Kym Silagyi. Then with the bases loaded, Puzey hit a fielder's choice to short that scored Patrick from third.
The Rainbow Wahine responded by scoring two runs of their own in the top of the fourth. Titcomb led the inning off with a single to right. Audrey Andrade followed with a single to left. On the play, the ball went right through the Wolf Pack leftfielder, and when she picked it up, she fired it wildly to third base in an attempt to throw out Titcomb. The throw, however, bounced into Hawai`i's third base dugout, allowing Titcomb to score and Andrade to go to third. Andrade later scored on a wild pitch to cut UNR's lead to 7-5.
Hawai`i's fifth inning started with three consecutive hits by Brandi Peiler, Robinson, and Warwick. With the bases loaded, Valana Manuma hit a ground ball to second. But, the ball bounced off the second baseman for a fielding error, allowing both pinch runner, Traci Yoshikawa and Robinson to score to tie the game at 7-7. After a pop-up, first out, Andrade followed with a grounder to third with runners at second and third. The Wolf Pack third baseman tried to get the runner breaking for home, but the catcher dropped the ball, allowing pinch runner Kate Adams to slide in safely for UH's third run of the inning and first lead of the game at 8-7.
But Nevada bounced back and reeled off five runs in the fifth. Silagyi led the inning off with a single to left. A fly to center gave UH their first out, but left-handed slapper, Tyler Schafer followed by hitting to short. A fielding error on the play put runners at first and second for lead-off batter, Nicole Micka, who drilled a double to left centerfield to score both Schafer and Silagyi. Puzey follwed with a single right up the middle to put runners at the corners. Freshman pitcher Melissa Gonzalez then entered the game for UH to make her first WAC appearance. But Briones greeted her by hitting a bases-clearing double to the right-centerfield gap that scored both Micka from third and Puzey all the way from first. Later in the inning, Kelsey Starr drove in Briones from third with a single to left, pushing UNR's lead to 12-8 after five complete innings.
Hawai`i tried to answer with another comeback in the top of the sixth. Kaulana Gould led off with a hard hit that ricocheted off a hustling shortstop for a single. After an out, Robinson stepped up and hit the first pitch over the centerfield fence for her record-setting home run. Hawai`i was down 12-10 going into the bottom of the sixth.
The Wolf Pack added one more run in the bottom of the sixth when Briones laced a line drive to center that scored Schafer, who had walked earlier in the inning, in from third with the sacrifice.
Hawai`i's Jessica Morton took the loss, dropping her record to 5-3. She gave up 11 runs on 11 hits in 4.1 innings pitched. She walked three with no strike outs. The closer, Gonzalez, threw the final 1.2 innings, giving up two runs on four hits with a walk and two strike outs.
Nevada's Katie Holverson picked up her second win in the series with a complete game effort. She gave up 10 runs on 12 hits with a walk and nine strike outs.
It is the first time that Nevada has swept Hawai`i. The Rainbow Wahine will now head to Santa Clara to play a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 23 starting at 2:00 pm. Then the team travels to Fresno State to take on the No. 12 Bulldogs in a three-game conference series starting on Friday, April 25.
