KANEOHE, Oahu--UH Hilo's Leah Gonzales tossed a shutout in the first game and came in out of the bullpen in the second game to post zeros to help lead the Vulcans to 5-0 and 3-0 softball wins over Chaminade on Sunday afternoon at Howard Okita Field.

The Vulcans bounced back from their first loss of the year on Saturday to improve to 10-1 on the season, with the same record in the Pacific West Conference. Chaminade is now 7-7 on the year and in league play.

Gonzales played a huge role in both games, going from start to finish in the opener and snuffing a Silversword rally in the second game before shutting them down the rest of the way.

In the opener, senior right-hander Gonzales made her first start of the year and it was a beauty. She went the distance (seven innings), allowing just three hits, no runs, no walks and she fanned five. She worked around a few Chaminade base runners in the first few innings, but didn't give up a hit after the fourth inning. She retired the final 12 batters that she faced.

She got the only run that she would need in the first inning when Kiarra Lincoln led off the game with a triple and then scored on Darian Obara's ground ball. The Vulcans would get two more runs in the third inning when Vevesi Liilii doubled home Lincoln and Obara to make it 3-0. UHH added more insurance in the fourth with three straight singles from Chloe Domingo, Skylar Thomas and Kamalei Labasan, followed by an RBI-walk from Angel Prewitt and a sacrifice fly by Lincoln. 

The Vulcans had seven hits in the game by six different players, two by Thomas who also had a triple.

Sara Bhatt started the second game in the pitching circle for UHH and gave up only three hits in two innings, but had control issues. She walked five batters, but somehow managed to wiggle out of two jams, leaving the bases loaded each time.

In the third, she walked the first two batters, prompting the entry of Gonzales. A sacrifice bunt would move the runners over to second and third, but Gonzales got the next two batters out to halt the rally.

Offensively, UHH scored a run in the first and another in the third in almost the exact same way. Obara singled, moved up on a Liilii base hit and then scored on a Domingo single or sacrifice fly. In the seventh, Obara doubled and scored on an error, that came on a Liilii batted ball. 

Gonzales would finish with a pitching line of five innings, two hits, no walks and four strikeouts. For the day, she pitched 12 innings, didn't allow a run, gave up five hits, no walks and struck out nine.

Obara had three hits in the second game and scored three times. Liilii had two base knocks. 

The Vulcans will return to the Big Island to take on Chaminade again next weekend, hosting the Silverswords at Kealakehe High School on Saturday and Sunday.