ST. GEORGE, Utah--Hawai`i Hilo rode the bats of
Rayla Jacobs-Kea and
Kimberly Olivas to a 7-2 lead, and then held on as
Leah Gonzales picked up her second save of the season to salvage a 7-6 win over Montana State Billings on a cold Thursday morning at the Dixie State Courtyard Classic.
The victory at the Canyons Softball Complex evens UH Hilo's record at 2-2 on the season while the Yellowjackets fall to 4-2. The Vulcans will turn around and play Colorado State-Pueblo in just a few minutes.
Jacobs-Kea, a sophomore transfer from Midland College, went 3-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBI to help stake the Vulcans to an early lead. Her three-run bop came in the fifth inning when UHH did most of their damage, scoring five runs on three hits and using a trio of MSUB errors to take a 7-2 lead.
Earlier, UH Hilo scored twice in the top of the second on a two-run double by Olivas, a junior transfer from Cerritos College. Olivas finished 2-for-3 and
Brinell Kaleikini was 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the fifth.
That lead looked to be enough for starter
Isabelle Mejia, who gave up solo home runs in the second (Allie Hughes) and fourth innings (Brittanee Fisher), but was otherwise strong. The fatigue caught up with her in the sixth and seventh, when two hit batters and a walk set the stage for Hailee Gregerson's bloop single to drive in a pair (7-4). In the seventh, a single and walk brought in Gonzales out of the bullpen. Sidney Pollard greeted her with a two-run single to make it a one-run game (7-6).
But Gonzales buckled down and induced a pop up and then fanned the final batter of the game to get her second save in two chances, and lower her ERA to 0.70.
Mejia pitched six innings and gave up six hits, six runs and fanned nine batters. She threw 108 pitches on her way to those numbers to pick up her first win of the year (1-0). The Vulcans had ten hits in the game but also had three errors defensively.
Maddy Lincoln (2-1) was tagged with her first loss of the year for the Yellowjackets, who swept Hawai`i Pacific earlier this week in a three-game series. The temperature at the start of the game was a sunny 29 degrees.
