On the last day of pool play, the University of Hawai‘i cannonballed Loyola Marymount, 7-4, then outlasted Stetson in a 1-0, hold-your-breath contest yesterday in the Malihini Softball Tournament at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
Felicity Witt and Janelle Gonzales pitched complete games as UH improved 18-7 overall and 4-1 in the tournament.
In the first game, a distracted Wahine squad capitalized on key errors by the Lions to pull out a ragged victory.
With Loyola leading 1-0 in the third inning, Hawai‘i freshman Stacey Porter singled to center field. Tyree Woodruff then laid down a bunt, beat the throw to first then advanced to second on a throwing error by shortstop Kim Bisset.
Natalie Gonzales scored Porter with a single to left field, then took second on the throw home as Kimi Kaneshiro, pinch running for Woodruff, took third.
Stacie Hirano then singled down the first-base line, scoring Kaneshiro and advancing Gonzales to third. After a pop-up out by April Crowell, Trisha Ramos singled to left field to drive in Gonzales, giving UH a 3-1 lead.
Hawai‘i took advantage of a pair of Loyola errors in the fourth inning to extend the lead.
With one out, Porter doubled to right then advanced to third on a single by Woodruff. Gonzales then singled to left to score Porter.
In the next at-bat, Hirano reached first on an error by center fielder Anna Trauernicht. With the bases loaded, Crowell reached on a fielder’s choice and Woodruff scored on an error by second baseman Laura Eckley.
After a pop-up by Ramos, the Wahine added another run off a single by Kate Judd that scored Gonzales. Hirano was thrown out at home on the same play to end the inning.
In the fifth, Porter stole home to give Hawai‘i its final run.
The Lions narrowed the lead in the bottom of the inning when Trauernicht doubled to left field to score Trisha Gomes from second. Eckley then singled to left to drive in Lisa Abbot and Jaime Lyons doubled to center to score Trauernicht. But that’s all the Lions could muster as the Wahine held on for the win.
Witt scattered seven hits over seven innings to earn her 10th win of the season. Porter and Woodruff, hitting at the bottom of the order, went 6-for-6 with four runs scored.
Despite the win, UH coach Bob Coolen was disappointed with the team’s focus.
"We were playing uncharacteristically," Coolen said. "There were some unusual calls at the plate and that got the kids a little befuddled. We haven’t let those outside things distract us this season and I reminded the team about that. I told them they had to refocus and stay in control."
They did that in their second game, committing just one error in a game decided by defense.
Gonzales pitched a masterful game, allowing six hits and striking out eight.
"For some reason, we haven’t been giving Nellie a lot of support," Coolen said. "But Stetson made some great plays defensively. This was like a championship game."
Gonzales got all the support she needed in the second inning. Again, it was an error that made a difference. Kristin Anderson hit a line drive straight to shortstop Emily Harris, who dropped the ball as Anderson reached first. Anderson then stole second and scored on a single by Porter.
From there it was all Gonzales. Stetson twice had runners on third only to watch Gonzales end the threat with strikeouts.
Kelly Gardner suffered the loss, allowing seven hits in six innings with only one strikeout.
The tournament continues today with single-elimination play: Western Illinois vs. Winthrop at 8 a.m.; Loyola Marymount vs. Stetson at 10; Pacific vs. the winner of Game 1 at noon; Hawai‘i vs. the winner of Game 2 at 2; and the championship game at 4. All games will be played at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
