KAILUA-KONA, Hawai`i--UH Hilo survived sketchy first-game defense and then rode the bat of
Vevesi Liilii and the arm of
Valerie Alvarado in the second to complete a doubleheader and series sweep of visiting Dominican, 10-7 and 8-0 on Thursday afternoon at Kealakahe High School.
The Vulcans won their sixth straight game and wrapped up a long homestand with the effort. They improved to a stellar 16-4 on the season and to 11-1 in the Pacific West Conference. Dominican is now 3-8 overall and 2-8 in the PacWest.
UH Hilo now girds for their longest road trip of the year, and likely their most critical. They play at Biola (March 19-20), Azusa Pacific (March 22-23) and No. 1 nationally ranked Concordia (March 25-26). Following that is the annual Tournament of Champions in Turlock, March 29-31.
In the first game, the Vulcans pounded out nine hits and scored ten times, but also had five errors that allowed Dominican to score seven runs--five of them unearned.
The Vulcans got on the board first via a two-run double by
Markie Okamoto in the first inning, but Dominican answered in the second with two runs of their own off of Vulcan ace
Isabelle Mejia. The Penguins then took the lead in the fourth with two more runs, chasing Mejia from the game for a 4-2 lead. Relief star
Leah Gonzales entered and eventually got out of the inning.
UHH got one unearned run back in the third, and then grabbed the lead in the fifth inning. Skyler Thomas and
Kiarra Lincoln had RBI-hits in the stanza as UH Hilo scored three times to take a 6-4 lead. The Vulcans, playing at their home away from home at Kealakahe HS, seemingly closed the door in the sixth with four runs, taking advantage of three walks, another double by Okamoto and a two-run single by Lincoln (10-4).
But Dominican didn't go away, opening the seventh with three consecutive hits. Another error kept the inning alive to push across three runs before Gonzales knuckled down to get the final two outs.
Lincoln was 2-for-3 in the game with three RBI, and Okamoto went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.
Brinell Kaleikini walked and scored three times each, and Thomas was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI. Gonzales got credit for the win (4-2), throwing four relief innings and allowing four hits, one earned run and she fanned four.
The second game was much cleaner. Alvarado tossed her second straight complete-game shutout, this time going six innings in the mercy-rule game and allowing four hits, two walks and she struck out three to improve to 4-2.
In her only real trouble of the day, one base hit, an error and a walk helped load the bases for the Penguins in the second inning, but back-to-back ground balls to Lincoln ended up in outs at the plate, and Alvarado then induced a fly ball to end the inning. The junior retired 10 of the final 11 batters that she faced.
On offense, Liilii stole the show. The junior transfer (Iolani HS/Eastern Arizona College) went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBI, and mixed in a stolen base as well. Her two-run shot in the first inning gave the Vulcans a lead that they would keep with Alvarado in the pitching circle.
The Vulcans scored four runs in the third, all with two outs, on just one hit, four walks and a hit batter. Liilii and Mejia singled home runs in the sixth to wrap up the game.
Liilii had half of the Vulcans eight hits, and she was a total of 5-for-6 on the day.
Karitza Reyes and Mady Christensen had two hits each for the Penguins in the first game, and Alexis Chinchilla had three of Dominican's four hits in the nightcap.
