Peejay Brun’s UH-Hilo’s hitters talk a lot about carrying a plan with them to the plate.
Mired in recent struggles with the bat, Cristina Menjivar focused on hard contact, and she did it so well she kept on hitting home runs.
Menjivar slammed three over the fence Saturday at UH-Hilo softball field, and two came in the second game of a doubleheader as the Vulcans bounced back from their first home loss with a 10-2 TKO victory against Dominican.
“We’re not defined by our losses, we’re not defined by our wins,” said Menjivar, who leads the Vulcans (17-6, 9-1 Pacific West Conference) with four homers. “We’re defined by how we play, and the second game was definitely a more accurate representation of how we play. That’s the team we are and the team we can be.”
The Penguins’ 6-3 victory in the opener against Billi Derleth stopped a 13-game winning streak, but UH-Hilo received an encouraging performance in the second game from Danielle Wilson (8-2), who allowed six hits in five innings with only one walk. She struck out two.
“She did a great job,” Brun said. “We’ve been really working on her drop ball and her fundamentals a lot. She did a great job hitting her spots.”
Menjivar (3 for 3) drove in three runs and scored four times as the Vulcans finished with 14 hits. Brandi Wilson and Chenoa Au were both 3 for 3 and drove in two runs, and Amanda Lara was 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
Menjivar’s two-run shot was one of the few highlights in the opener against the Penguins (4-13, 2-4).
“I just want to go out there with a plan and hit the ball hard,” she said.
Derleth (8-4) went the distance but yielded 11 hits, and the Vulcans made two errors in allowing two unearned runs.
Baseball
Eric Vega pitched good enough to win, but his defense committed two errors that led to three unearned runs in a 3-2 loss to Azusa Pacific, which swept the Vulcans by scoring two runs in the eighth inning for a 6-4 victory at Wong Stadium in the nightcap.
In the opener Vul third baseman Byron Freitas’ throwing error with two out in the fourth let in three unearned runs.
In seven innings, Vega allowed three unearned runs on two walks and struck out four. Thomas Warren threw two scoreless innings in relief.
Jonny Reid pitched 8 1/3 innings of two-run ball for the win. Dillon Miyashiro got two outs for the save.
