Softball Weekly: Vulcans to host PacWest powerhouses

This Week—Saturday (March 11) vs. Azusa Pacific, doubleheader, UH Hilo campus (noon).
Sunday (March 12) vs. Dixie State, doubleheader, UH Hilo campus (noon).
Last Games—Lost three of four to Concordia on March 4-5
Record: 7-7 overall, 1-3 Pacific West Conference

Gut Checking: After a battle of epic proportions and a whole lot of softball over a two-day period against Concordia, the UH Hilo softball team will return to an even stiffer challenge this weekend when they take on two of the top teams in the Pacific West Conference in Azusa Pacific and Dixie State.

Marathon and Softball: People expecting a few smooth hours of softball on Sunday at the UH Hilo field instead cheered through over six hours of action during a very long afternoon—that only ended when darkness covered the field. The Vulcans played the longest game that anyone could remember during a heartbreaking, 10-9 THIRTEEN inning loss to Concordia, a contest that lasted four hours and 34 minutes. Even the longest Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees games (known for their longevity) don't usually last that long. The second game was a darkness-shortened, five inning contest that lasted 1:34, with the Eagles also capturing that contest, 7-1.

Here Come the Titans: The two top teams currently in the Pacific West Conference invade Hilo this weekend. Azusa Pacific will arrive first on Saturday for a twinbill, bringing a 14-6 overall mark and 6-1 PacWest ledger. Dixie State is the opponent on Sunday, coming to Hawaii with a 19-3 overall record and perfect 5-0 mark in league action.

Offensive fireworks: The Vulcans are hitting .282 as a team on the young season. They have 15 home runs in 14 games and are averaging 5.4 runs per contest. Bailey Gaspar has seven of those round-trippers, and is tied for third in the NCAA in homers per game (0.5). She also has 17 RBI in 14 contests, has 17 walks and is hitting .375 on the season. Senior catcher Danielle Pulido leads the club with a .386 average, and also adds three home runs and 11 RBI to the mix. Shortstop Mari Kawano is hitting at a .367 clip with a team-best five stolen bases. Freshman Kristen Ishii has started all 14 games in left field and is batting .295 with a team-high four doubles.

Pitching Circle: Junior Cyanne Fernadez was outstanding in a seven-inning relief appearance during Sunday's marathon, allowing no earned runs and only four hits. She dropped her ERA to 1.58 with that performance. Senior Danielle Wilson suffered her first loss of the season, but also added another win in the Concordia series to improve to 4-1 on the year with a 3.31 ERA.

Youth is served: Three freshman continue to be listed in the starting line-up, four if you include pitcher Leah Gonzales. Brinell Kaleikini now has starts in right field, catcher, center field and third base. Kristen Ishii has started all 14 games in left field. Danielle Antolin has started 11 games at second base and Gonzales has three starts in the pitcher's circle and one as the DP.

Cougar Corner: Azusa Pacific is off to a hot start, exploding out of the gates with a 14-6 mark and 6-1 PacWest record. Already on the islands, they swept a doubleheader from Chaminade on Saturday, and split two one-run games with Hawaii Pacific on Monday. They will play two more against the Sharks today before making their way to BYU-Hawaii and then Hilo. They opened the conference season with a doubleheader sweep of PacWest favorite California Baptist, and also have a 8-0 win over No. 7 nationally ranked Adelphi and a victory over No. 17 UC San Diego. Kayla Jimenez leads a strong hitting club with a .414 average, with three home runs and 20 RBI. Nicki Sprague adds four more homers and 26 RBI to the cause. Four different pitchers have contributed to APU's 1.78 team ERA. The Cougars and Vulcans split four games last year in Azusa.

Trailblazer Take: It certainly won't get any easier for the Vulcans on Sunday when they take on No. 12 nationally ranked Dixie State. Heading into a Tuesday doubleheader with Dominican, the Trailblazers are 19-3 overall and 5-0 in league play. They had a 10-game winning streak heading into the doubleheader with the Penguins, not having lost since Feb. 17. Janessa Bassett leads an offensive-happy club with a sizzling .576 average, but she also has three teammates hitting over .400 on a team with a .383 team average. Jessica Gonzalez is the only player in the league with more home runs than Bailey Gaspar, she has eight. Brooklyn Beardshear has an 8-1 record in the pitcher's circle and a miniscule 1.51 ERA to go with it. The Trailblazers were picked second in the PacWest pre-season poll. Dixie State won both games played against the Vulcans last season, in St. George, Utah.

PacWest Progress: Here is what the early season Pacific West Conference standings look like, through Monday, March 6.
 Team                                                     PWC      Overall
Dixie State                                               5-0          19-3
Azusa Pacific                                           6-1          14-6
Academy of Art                                         3-1           9-7
Hawaii Pacific                                           3-2           8-5
California Baptist                                       3-2           9-7
Dominican                                                4-3          5-10
BYU-Hawaii                                              5-5          7-14
Concordia                                                3-3          13-8-2
Notre Dame de Namur                              3-3            3-5
Hawaii Hilo                                              1-3            7-7
Holy Names                                            1-10          1-13
Chaminade                                              0-4           2-10
 
Callen's back: Returning for his 21^st season at UHH, but his first since 2009 is head coach Callen Perreira. The school's all-time winningest coach is back after four seasons at College of Southern Nevada (136-104). Perreira's first season in the Vulcan dugout was in 1990 (13-15) and by his second season he had led his team to a program-record 39 wins (39-9). His teams won a pair of Pacific West Conference titles (2004-05) and they made NCAA regional appearances from 2005-07. His 1992 team placed fourth at the NAIA World Series. Including games thus far in 2017, his all-time mark as a UHH coach is now 583-352, and his all-time collegiate record is 719-456-3.

Coaches Corner: "That was a lot of softball to be played after taking three weeks off. We just need to get our confidence back and we will be fine. We haven't been playing a lot and that tends to lead to mistakes which we won't be making later on. We will bounce back from this."  
                      
What's Next: After playing the Cougars and Trailblazers, the Vulcans will host conference favorite California Baptist on March 18.