HILO, Hawai'i – A wild Saturday of softball resulted in tickets being punched as Hawai'i Hilo swept Chaminade, 3-2 and 4-0, Saturday afternoon to clinch a spot in the four-team Pacific West Conference Championship postseason tournament.
Game 1 needed extra innings to settle the score as Kanoe Piltz delivered a walk-off knock to right-center field to score Makena Nera from second base for the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Nera got on base earlier in the inning on a throwing error by the Chaminade shortstop. A wild pitch moved her over into scoring position before racing around the horn for the score.
Piltz had earlier provided the Vulcans' second run of the game on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 in the fourth inning. The Silverswords tied the score in the fifth with a two-RBI single from Summer Buck.
Both teams threatened to score in each of the two extra innings but Hawai'i Hilo pitcher Chloe Sales and reliever Linsea Strauch held strong to keep the Silverswords from taking the lead. Sales went 8.0 innings with a career-high eight strikeouts tossed. Strauch entered in the top of the ninth with one runner on but retired the side in order with a strikeout to close the inning and secure her second win on record.
Madison Rabe claimed her ninth win in the pitching circle with a complete-game shutout in Game 2. Rabe allowed just three hits to move to a 5-1 record in PacWest Conference play.
Victoria Macias, Maya Lee Saneishi and Kiani Nakamura each provided RBI at-bats in the 4-0 victory.
With Saturday's victories, the Vulcans locked up a spot in the four-team PacWest Conference Championship set for the beginning of next month. Hawai'i Hilo joins regular-season champion Concordia University Irvine and Azusa Pacific. The remaining playoffs berth will be a three-way battle between Biola, Dominican and Chaminade with just a handful of games to go.
UP NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo moved to a 23-15 record (16-10 PacWest) while Chaminade moved to 15-21 overall (10-15 in conference).
The Vulcans will close out the regular season Sunday, hosting HPU for a doubleheader starting at noon. It will also be Senior Day to celebrate the team's lone senior Maya Lee Saneishi.
The four-team PacWest Conference Championship postseason tournament is set for May 1-3 in San Rafael, California at Dominican.
PACWEST HAWAI'I CHALLENGE
With Saturday's victories, the Vulcans can also now lay claim to the 2023-24 PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
In an effort to elevate Hawai'i-based rivalries, the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge has awarded the top school in athletics competition among the state's Division II institutions going back to the late 1970s.
Comprising 10 sports that all three schools participate in, points are awarded from head-to-head Pacific West Conference matchups as well as final placements at conference-ending championship events. The team with the highest total gets three points while the second highest gets two and the third-place finisher receives one.
More information is available at HiloAthletics.com/PacWestHawaii.
