There’s no way around it. This one could hurt.
UH-Hilo’s softball team suffered a costly loss Saturday against lowly Chaminade, and though the Vulcans rebounded for a split on senior day on their campus field, the damage was already done.
It’s the extent of the damage that remains unknown.
“That was not a good loss for us,” coach Callen Perreira said of a 2-1 setback in which UHH’s bats went silent and produced just two hits against Madelyn Stockslager (10-15, 2.45 ERA), who worked around six walks to outduel Isabelle Mejia. “Credit their pitcher. She pitched a good game, but we didn’t make adjustments. We lacked some energy.”
This was not the time to come up short in the intensity department
The Vulcans, now 29-16 and 22-10 in the Pacific West Conference after a 9-1 win in the second game, came in ranked ninth in the West Region and looking to climb one spot to secure a postseason berth. A split against the Silverswords (12-34, 9-25) isn’t likely to help.
The two teams closest to UHH in the West, Western Oregon in eighth and Western Washington in 10th, split a doubleheader Friday.
The penultimate rankings come out Wednesday, then UHH heads to Honolulu this weekend, facing Chaminade on Saturday with another doubleheader on tap Sunday at Hawaii Pacific.
The Vulcans also dropped to fourth in the PacWest, though they are just percentage points behind Biola (18-8) and a full game in back of second-place Azusa Pacific (21-8), which is ranked fifth in the West.
“We knew we had to win as many games, which is why I wasn’t very happy with the first-game performance,” Perreira said.
The Vuls came back to win a five-inning TKO in the second game, clinching it with five runs in the fifth, making things a bit more fesitve when seniors Maria Steadmon, Kayla Requelman, Danielle Antolin and Mejia were honored when the afternoon was over.
Markie Okamoto drove in two runs with a double and a single and Kiarra Lincoln and Makamae Kaleikini each collected two hits, including an RBI single, to back Valerie Alvarado (9-5), who held Chaminade to five hits in five innings with three walks and four strikeouts.
Mejia (11-3) pitched well in going the distance in a five-hitter in the opener but paid for one big mistake, allowing a two-run home run to Kiana Ulufale with one out in the fourth. Mejia walked one and struck out four.
Skylar Thomas’ RBI single in the second represented UHH’s only it to the outfield off Stockslager, who struck out five.
Thomas hit a run-scoring double in the second game.