HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i softball team (2-4, 0-0 BWC) opened the 2022 Outrigger Hawai'i Invitational with a 7-5 win over Montana (5-6, 0-0 Big Sky) on Thursday night. Freshman pitcher
Chloe Borges fired a complete game to earn her first collegiate win, while the hot-hitting
Maya Nakamura led the UH offense which came thru with timely hitting to hold off the Grizzlies at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
Borges (1-2) allowed five runs on eight hits in seven innings with three walks and three strikeouts. She also went 1-for-3 at the plate with a double on offense.
Sophomore second baseman Nakamura has reached base safely 10-straight times with eight hits and a couple of walks sprinkled in between. Against the Grizzlies, she went 3-fo-3 with a walk to go with her four RBI. She also was busy on defense with three assists and six putouts at second base.
Senior shortstop
Nawai Kaupe continues to do damage at the leadoff spot. Tonight, as leadoff hitter, she crossed the plate three times while going 2-for-3 and getting plunked. She went 2-for-3 with a home run.
The Grizzlies got out the gate fast. With one out in the first, Montana got three consecutive singles to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Jantzi drove in Sellers for the quick 1-0 lead.
Hawai'i's Kaupe led off the home half of the first with a solo blast to centerfield to tie the score at 1-1. UH started the inning with three consecutive hits but a groundout and a line-out double play from short to second to thwart UH's rally.
In the second,
Izabella Martinez started UH's rally with a one-out double to left-centerfield. Martinez scooted to third on a fielding error by the pitcher to put runners at the corners for
Ka'ena Keliinoi who drilled a single down the leftfield line to drive in Martinez to take back the lead. UH went on to load the bases with two outs for Nakamura who lifted a bases-clearing single to deep right-centerfield to drive in Kaupe, Keliinoi and
Casey Beaulac for a 5-1 lead.
The lead was short lived however. In the top of the third, with the bases full of Grizzlies, Julie Phelps tied the score with one swing of the bat with a grand slam to centerfield to knot the score at 5-5.
In the third, Borges helped her own cause by lacing a one-out double to right.
Izabella Martinez followed with an RBI single to left-center to score pinch runner
Piper Neri to give UH the lead back at 6-5.
In the sixth, the Rainbow Wahine added an insurance run as Nakamura picked up her career-high fourth RBI of the game with an RBI single that pushed Kaupe past the plate for the 7-5 lead.
Allie Brock (4-5) suffered the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits with a strikeout in three innings of work. Montana reliever Dana Butterfield threw three strong innings, giving up one run on two hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Day 2 of the Outrigger Hawai'i Invitational will feature four games, ending with Hawai'i taking on Abilene Christian at 5:00 p.m. followed by North Dakota at 7:00 p.m.
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