Against one of the best teams in the PacWest, the UH-Hilo softball team was competitive in one game against Dixie State and overmatched in the other.
The Red Storm blitzed the Vulcans 9-0 in the first game and edged them 7-6 in the back end of a doubleheader Wednesday at St. George, Utah.
It followed a familiar pattern a few days earlier against top conference competition.
UHH lost a pair to second-place Cal Baptist 2-1 in 10 innings and 13-2 on Monday.
The Vuls (22-13, 14-8 PacWest) are 0-4 against front-runner Dixie State and the No. 2 Lancers but 14-4 against other conference teams.
If it’s any consolation for the Vuls, they don’t face the Red Storm (27-7, 15-3) and the Lancers (30-6, 13-3) again.
In the 9-0 five-inning TKO loss to Dixie State, Billi Derleth (10-7) suffered her worst loss of the season.
She gave up nine runs (two unearned) on eight hits and two walks and struck out two in 2 2/3 innings. Derleth was scratched for two runs in the first and pounded for seven runs in the third.
Brandi Wilson had UHH’s lone hit.
In the second game, the Vulcans jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the sixth inning on Victoria Garcia’s two-run single and Cristina Menjivar’s three-run homer.
But Shelby Yung, who went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Menjivar batted 2 for 3 with three RBIs, Bailey Gaspar 3 for 4 with an RBI and Garcia had two RBIs to lead the Vuls.
Danielle Wilson pitched six-plus innings in the no-decision. She gave up six runs on 14 hits and two walks.
Cyanne Fernandez recorded one out and gave up a run on two hits and two walks in the loss.
