Box Score HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i softball team fell to Cal State Fullerton in the opening game of three-game conference series on Friday night at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Hawai'i falls to 20-23 overall and 4-6 in the Big West while the Titans improved to 36-10 overall and remained undefeated in the Big West at 10-0.
The game was a pitcher's duel with both teams held off the scoreboard through the first five innings. Hawai'i's starting pitcher
Brittany Hitchcock and the UH defense were rolling along, retiring 10-straight batters and facing just one batter over the minimum after getting two quick outs to start the fifth inning. But, back-to-back fielding errors on the shortstop led to a three-run home run by Delynn Rippy. Two batters later, Missy Taukeiaho hit the second homer of the inning to give the Titans a 5-0 lead—all runs were unearned.
CSF loaded the bases and added another run in the top of the sixth, capitalizing on four UH infield errors. The Titans led 6-0 after five-and-a-half innings of action.
Hawai'i got one run back in the bottom of the sixth when
Nicole Lopez launched a solo home run over the leftfield fence. It was rookie's fourth home run of the season. UH's
Heather Morales reached first on with a single and
Dori Ann Sugai ripped a double to the right-centerfield gap to put runners at second and third with two outs. But The Titans' Sydney Golden snuffed out the rally with a strikeout to preserve their 6-1 lead.
The Titans extended their lead to 7-1 in the seventh, on an RBI-double by Courtney Rodriguez.
Hitchcock suffered the loss for UH dropping her record to 9-12 overall. She allowed five runs—all unearned—on five hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Reliever
Jennifer Iseri tossed the final two innings, giving up two runs on two hits. UH gave up a total of six unearned runs while committing six errors--the most since the 'Bows had six miscues twice in 2009 against Oklahoma (Feb. 7, 2009) and Mississippi State (Mar. 6, 2009).
Cal State Fullerton's Sydney Golden earned the win to improve her record to 15-3. She gave up one run on six hits with three strike outs. Relief pitcher Desiree Ybarra struck out two and did not allow a hit or a run in one inning of work.
Hawai'i and Cal State Fullerton will square off in a doubleheader on Saturday to end the three-game series. First pitch is slated for 2:00 p.m. It is "Power in Pink" day at the ballpark in recognition of breast cancer awareness. Fans are encouraged to wear pink when they come to the ballpark.
