HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i softball team (28-12, 6-3 WAC) completed the series sweep over Nevada with an 8-1 and 5-4 win over the Wolf Pack on Saturday night at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Stephanie Ricketts and Kaia Parnaby both earned wins in the doubleheader with Parnaby also picking up her first save of the season in the series' finale.

 

Box Score
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The Rainbow Wahine opened today's doubleheader with an 8-1 win over the Wolf Pack. The two teams were knotted with the score 1-1 through the first four innings, but in the fifth UH erupted for five runs—four of which came on Sharla Kliebenstein's first career grand slam over the leftfield fence.

 

Parnaby earned her 10th win of the year with a complete game effort. She fired 7.0 innings giving up one unearned run while scattering three hits with a walk and four strike outs. Parnaby raised her record to 10-3 overall and 2-1 in conference.

 

The 'Bows scored first, posting a single run in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Sarah Robinson to drive in pinch runner Brynne Buchanan from second. The rally started when Jenna Rodriguez reached on a fielding error on the third baseman. Buchanan entered the game at first and promptly moved to second on a single to left by Melissa Gonzalez to put runners at first and second with no outs. Sarah Robinson then drilled a sharp single right back up the middle to score Buchanan for the game's first run.

 

But the Wolf Pack rallied to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth. After a ground out to second, Erin Jones was hit-by-the-pitch and hustled to third on a single to right-centerfield by Megan Fincher. Lauren Lastrapes then hit a grounder to second, but with the infield drawn in, UH second baseman Jasey Jensen came up with the ball cleanly and gunned out Jones at the plate for the second out of the inning. But the next batter, Jayme King followed with a weak grounder to short that skipped under the shortstop's glove for an error. But the throw from leftfield to the infield was wild and allowed Fincher to score Nevada's only run of the game.

 

Hawai`i battled back in the bottom of the fifth. Nevada starter Mallary Darby got the first out of the inning on a ground out to second, but then proceeded to walk the Dara Pagaduan, Kelly Majam, Jensen, and Jessica Iwata in a row to force one run home. Then, Kliebenstein launched her grand slam over the leftfield fence to give UH a 6-1 lead.

 

UH rallied again in the sixth inning adding two runs, increasing their lead to 8-1. With one out, Pagaduan and Majam both drew walks and then advanced into scoring position on an infield single to short by Jasey Jensen to load the bases. Iwata then laced a single to the right-centerfield gap to drive in both Pagaduan and Majam.

 

Nevada starter Mallary Darby suffered the loss, dropping her record to 10-17 and 1-7 in the WAC. She gave up six runs on four hits with five walks and four strike outs. Reliever Ariel Craig threw the final 1.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with two walks and two strike outs.

Hawai`i 5, Nevada 4
Box Score

The Rainbow Wahine held off the hard-charging Wolf Pack to sweep the series with a 5-4 win. Hawai`i had a 5-1 lead before Nevada rallied to score three runs in the top of the sixth inning. In that same inning, Hawai`i pitcher Parnaby—who earned the win in the day's first game—came in relief with the bases loaded and one out after Nevada had already scored three runs in the inning. Parnaby doused the fire with a pair of strike outs to end the inning and then held Nevada off the board in the final frame to earn her first save of the season.

 

The Wolf Pack jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on a solo home run over the Under Armour sign in left-centerfield by Erin Jones.

 

UH then erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Kliebenstein started the rally with a single to left and moved to second on an infield single to third by Jenna Rodriguez. Melissa Gonzalez then drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. After a strike out, designated player Shannon Lum tied the game with an opposite-field single lined through the leftside of the infield to score Kliebenstein. It was Lum's first hit as a Rainbow Wahine and second RBI of the season. Pagaduan followed with a walk that forced pinch runner Brynne Buchanan across the plate and chase Nevada starter, Darby, from the game. Craig then entered and faced Majam who drilled a line-shot to centerfield. The centerfielder made a good catch at the fence but it allowed pinch runner Jazmine Zamora to tag at third and score on the sacrifice fly. That left runners at the corners, and the 'Bows then executed their double-steal to score pinch-runner Rachel Paragas from third. On the play, Pagaduan—the runner at first—didn't break a stride as she saw the ball trickle into centerfield on the bad throw from the catcher. Pagaduan ended up at third for Jensen to drive in for the inning's fifth run on a line-shot single that ricocheted off the pitcher's glove.

 

Nevada answered back in the top of the sixth, posting three runs, cutting their deficit to 5-4. Karley Hopkins led off with a double to the right-centerfield gap. She moved to third on a single to second by Caylin Campbell and later scored on a hit to rightfield by Danielle Patrick. Erin Jones then picked up her second RBI of the game with a hit to short that took a bad hop allowing Campbell to score. Then Nevada continued their rally with an RBI single to centerfield by Lastrapes to score Britton Murdock. With the bases still loaded and just one out, Parnaby entered the game and squelched the Wolf Pack rally.

 

Ricketts (17-9, 4-2 WAC) earned the win, throwing 5.1 innings. She gave up four runs on nine hits with no walks and six strike outs. Parnaby fired the final 1.2 innings with a walk and four strike outs.

 

Nevada starter, Darby, threw the first 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on four hits with two walks and three strike outs. Craig came in to toss the final 2.2 innings of scoreless ball. She gave up two hits and had one strike out.

 

Hawai`i now hits the road for the third time this season, traveling to Ruston, La. to face Louisiana Tech in a three-game conference series on April 15-16.

 

 

                                                                                -UH-