IRVINE, Calif.—Losing on the final play of the game at any time is tough to swallow. Having it happen to you twice in the same day is another level of disappointing.
UHH head coach
Callen Perreira will have to help his team deal with two such losses today against conference-leading Concordia after the Eagles won 1-0 and 5-3 games to maintain their grip on first place in the Pacific West Conference.
Concordia stole home in the bottom of the seventh to win the first game, and hit a walk-off home run in the second contest to end a wild day and a very entertaining series.
The No. 7 Eagles are now 26-4 on the season and they are 15-3 in the Pacific West Conference. The Vulcans move to 21-11 overall and 16-8 in the PacWest.
Concordia's Callie Nunes and UH Hilo's
Valerie Alvarado matched no-hitters in the first game until the seventh inning when the Eagles got their first hit and would steal home plate to end the game, 1-0. Concordia used two-run bomb from Sydney Sprinkle to get the Tuesday sweep and series victory (3-1) over the Vulcans.
In the opener, tension mounted as Nunes and Alvarado were proving to be unhittable. Both pitchers walked three batters, and Nunes gave a free pass and hit a batter in the same inning to give UHH their best chance of scoring in the fifth.
But the Concordia ace would fan the next batter, one of 12 on the day to get out of the jam. Alvarado was equally elusive to Eagle batters until the fateful seventh inning. The first hitter of the inning, Mackenzie Graham, singled to left for the first base knock by either team. Pinch runner Lauren Lopez moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt, and sped to third on a ground out.
With two outs and Sarah Krestchmar at bat, Lopez suddenly broke for home and slid in with the winning run. It was the second straight one-run win for the Eagles in the series.
Nunes finished with her third no-hitter of the season, and Alvarado had her first one-hitter (and a loss). Nunes improved to 17-3, Alvarado dropped to 6-4.
The second game looked to be over without any drama, in favor of the Eagles. They carried a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning, and with one out were just four outs away from claiming the win.
But in the top of the sixth,
Kiarra Lincoln led off with an infield single. One batter later,
Isabelle Mejia hit an absolute bomb off of previously unscathed Erika Morris to pull the Vulcans within a run at 3-2. Mejia's shot was a no-doubter, her third home run of the year.
Morris took a deep breath and
Vevesi Liilii then sent her next pitch nearly as deep over the fence, this time in left-centerfield. Just like that it was 3-3. That brought Nunes into the game, she got a K to end the inning.
Leah Gonzales, who entered the game in the fifth, put the Eagles out in the sixth. In the top of the seventh,
Brinell Kaleikini got the Vulcans to their feet with a warning track fly out to left.
Rayla Jacobs-Kea walked, and then was moved to second on
Skylar Thomas' bunt. After a hit batter, Nunes got the final out on a fly ball to left.
In the bottom half, Megan Massa led off with a single to right field. One batter later, Sprinkle launched a ball far and deep over the fence to send the Eagles flying to home plate in celebration—for the second time today.
Nunes picked up her second win of the day (18-3). Lincoln had two hits for the Vulcans, who had just four base knocks in the game.
The Vulcans fell back into third place with the losses, now trailing Hawaii Pacific (18-7). UH Hilo's next PacWest games will be against the Sharks on April 6 in Hilo, but first are five games this weekend in Turlock at the Tournament of Champions.
