(photo of Valerie Alvarado courtesy of Rick Ogata)
KANEOHE, Hawai`i--UH Hilo gained a softball doubleheader sweep of Hawaii Pacific on Saturday afternoon at Howard Okita Field, doing so in two very different ways.
The Vulcans won the opener behind another solid pitching effort from
Valerie Alvarado, good defense and timely hitting for a 5-0 victory. In the second contest, UHH built two big leads only to see the Sharks rally back twice in a wild 10-7 finale. The Vulcans remained unbeaten with the wins, improving to 7-0 on the season. The Sharks are now 0-9 in 2021.
Alvarado improved to 3-0 on the year in the opener. She pitched the complete game shutout, allowing just four hits in seven innings, walked three batters and struck out four. Her defense was solid behind, turning three double plays to offset any trouble that the senior righthander might find herself in.
Her biggest jam was in the bottom of the sixth, when the Sharks put lead runners on first and third with no one out. But Alvarado knuckled down and got the next three outs on a strike out, pop up and a ground out. In all, she induced 10 ground ball outs in the game.
Meanwhile on offense, the Vulcans rapped 13 hits.
Vevesi Liilii had three of them, including a double, while
Kiarra Lincoln,
Markie Okamoto and
Kamalei Labasan had two hits each. Lincoln and Okamoto also had two RBI.
The Vulcans scored once in the first (Okamoto RBI-single), twice in the third (Okamoto SF,
Skylar Thomas RBI-single) and once in the fifth on a two-run base hit by Lincoln.
The second game was another story.
UH Hilo put four runs on the board before the Sharks even came to bat. Run-scoring singles from
Alana Alvarez and Liilii accounted for two runs, and
Chloe Domingo laced a two-run double for another pair.
Vulcan pitcher
Sara Bhatt, who hadn't given up a run yet this year in 9.2 innings, got through two more innings without damage. UH Hilo added another run in the top of the third after
Taisha Bratton doubled and Alvarez singled her home to make it 5-0.
But things came unraveled for Bhatt in the third. Three walks, a single, a double and an error led to five Shark runs to tie it at 5-5.
Leah Gonzales came out of the bullpen for the first time this season to put out the fire, but the game was renewed for HPU.
UHH took the lead back in the top of fourth when Lincoln doubled and came home on Okamoto's single. The visitors would seemingly put the game away with four more runs in the top of the fifth, using a combination of walks, an error, a bunt single and a sacrifice fly to make it 10-5.
Gonzales worked in and out of trouble through three more scoreless innings. But the Shark bats came alive again in the seventh with four straight hits, including two triples. But with two HPU runs across the plate, Gonzales was then able to get the final three outs on a fly and two ground outs for the final 10-7 verdict.
The senior got the win in relief, pitching five innings and giving up two runs. She allowed seven hits, one walk, and struck out three. The Vulcans had eight hits in the game, including two by Alvarez. Alvarez had two RBI in the game, as did Liilii and Domingo.
The two teams will face off again in a Easter Sunday doubleheader, with first pitch slated for noon.
