HILO, Hawai'i – The Hawai'i Hilo softball team went to extra innings to walk off Chaminade, 7-6, in the bottom of the 10th to open its final weekend of games with a split in Pacific West Conference action at the Vulcan Softball Field.
The Silverswords took Game 1, 8-3, before the Vulcans bounced back for the victory on a Lexie Tilton sacrifice fly to score Brandee Chinen from third base.
GAME 1: CHAMINADE 8, HAWAI'I HILO 3
- Chaminade did all of its damage early. After plating a solo run in the first inning, the Silverswords followed up by managing to rattle off six base hits aided by four walks to score seven runs for an 8-0 lead.
- Lauren Avalos looked to get things going for the Vulcans by leading off the bottom of the second with a home run. Senior Kuulei Ili later got a two-out rally started with a base hit before eventually coming around to score on a Jayda Favela single to left field.
- Lexie Tilton led off the third inning with a triple, but the Vulcans went down in order as they couldn't tack on anymore runs to cut into the deficit. Hawai'i Hilo had more opportunities in the fourth and sixth innings but stranded four total runners while scoring just one run.
- Maya Lee Saneishi returned to the lineup after last playing Feb. 19 against Western Washington.
GAME 2: CHAMINADE 7, HAWAI'I HILO 6 (10 INNINGS)
- After the Vulcans jumped on the scoreboard early with three runs, the Silverswords responded with a five-run third inning.
- Facing a two-run deficit heading into the bottom of the seventh, Dyoni Garcia led off with a home run to get the rally going. After Trinity Favela got on and moved over to third on a wild pitch and a single from Klara Cejkova-Kolaci, Jayda Favela drove in the game-tying run with a single to left field.
- Chaminade had a double in each of the next two innings, but the Vulcans defense held strong to keep the tie intact. In the top of the 10th with International Tiebreaker Rules placing a runner on second base to start the inning, the Vulcans made their 27th double play of the season on a diving flyout to center fielder Saneishi before doubling up the runner at second base to clear the basepaths.
- In the bottom frame, Cejkova-Kolaci singled again before an intentional walk to Jayda Favela loaded the bases for Tilton's walk-off sacrifice fly to center field as Chinen came home for the winning run. It was Tilton's third walk-off hit of the season.
- Malia Risdall notched her fifth win of the season in the pitching circle after throwing 7.2 innings of relief work and allowing just one run.
WHAT'S NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 9-16 in the PacWest (14-25 overall) while Chaminade moved to a 14-15 record (22-22 overall).
The Vulcans will close their regular season Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader against HPU and will celebrate their seven seniors: Lauren Avalos, Trinity Favela, Kuulei Ili, Maya Lee Saneishi, Malia Risdall, Chloe Domingo and Brandee Chinen.
The four-team PacWest Championships is set for May 3–5 in La Mirada, California at Biola University with Hawai'i just outside the bubble of qualifying.
