HILO, Hawai'i–The UH Hilo softball team went one-and-one with Chaminade on senior day. Four seniors played their last game at the UHH Softball Field including:
Angel Prewitt (Port Orchard, Wash. / South Kitsap HS / Bellevue College / Concordia-Portland/),
Nikki Zielinski (Sedona, Ariz. / Mingus Union HS / College of Southern Idaho/),
Alana Alvarez (Corona, Calif. / Santiago HS/), and
Skylar Thomas (Hilo, Hawai`i/Waiakea HS).
After today's games, the Vulcans (17-20, 13-15 PacWest) finished fifth in the PacWest Conference behind No. 1 Concordia, No. 2 Azusa Pacific, No. 3 Biola, and No. 4 Hawai'i Pacific.
UHH won their first game 4-1 over CUH (16-25, 12-20 PacWest) and suffered a 2-1 loss in the second.
Game One: UHH 4, CUH 1
The Vulcans had a breakthrough in the third inning, scoring the first run of the game 1-0. Senior
Nikki Zielinski (Sedona, Ariz. / Mingus Union HS / College of Southern Idaho/) and
Angel Prewitt (Port Orchard, Wash. / South Kitsap HS / Bellevue College / Concordia-Portland/) got the inning going with back-to-back singles. Zielinski ended up scoring off a first and third play where Prewitt was thrown out at second (1-0).
The Vulcans extended their lead in the fourth inning with another run (2-0).
Brandee Chinen (Hilo, Hawai`i / Waiakea HS/) led off with a base-hit bunt and eventually scored off of a sacrifice fly by
Chloe Domingo (Ewa Beach, Hawai`i / Campbell HS/) (2-0).
The Silverswords made it interesting in the sixth where they scratched a run on the board (2-1), but the Vulcans answered in the bottom of the inning with two more insurance runs (4-1).
Jayda Favela (Ewa Beach, Hawai`i / Campbell HS) singled to continue the sixth and
Brandee Chinen (Hilo, Hawai`i / Waiakea HS/) got on by a Silversword error. Favela eventually scored off a fielder's choice and Chinen scored off another CUH error (4-2).
Malia Risdall (Santa Clarita, Calif. / Saugus HS/) started in the circle and was eventually replaced by
Tehani Seto (Torrance, Calif./Saint Joseph HS) who closed the game out for the Vulcans. Seto had one strike out in 3.2 innings of work.
Game Two: CUH 2, UHH 1
The Silverswords bounced back in the second game, getting the first run on the board in the top of the fourth (1-0). The Vulcans quickly answered back with a matching run in the bottom of the inning (1-1).
Brandee Chinen (Hilo, Hawai`i / Waiakea HS/) singled to lead off the fourth and was picked up by a
Taisha Bratton (Moreno Valley, Calif. / Canyon Springs HS/) double (1-1).
The Silverswords kept the pressure on and ended up scoring the game-winning run off of a walked batter and two hits (2-1).
Alexis Lacy (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS) started the game on the mound for UHH. The Freshman allowed four hits and two runs while striking out four batters.
Sara Bhatt (Murrieta, Calif. / Murrieta Valley HS) came in relief for 2.1 innings, successfully shutting down the Silverswords. Bhatt allowed no hits while striking out three batters.
