For much of the afternoon against Azusa Pacific, it was a cat-and-mouse game for the UH-Hilo softball team.
Cougars ace Kat Ung, who’s 5 feet 2 and depends on deception and location more than velocity, kept throwing out cheese and yanking it back, and the Vulcans couldn’t figure her out, except for Kiarra Lincoln.
The sophomore shortstop hit a game-winning sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to lift the Vulcans over the Cougars 5-4 on Thursday at the UHH field, rallying from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh.
“I’m glad we came back,” said UHH coach Callen Perreira, whose team completed a sweep with a 5-1 in the second game. “We made adjustments when it counted.”
Perreira wasn’t exactly jumping up and down from the comeback victory. He’s seen more than his share of unlikely wins, with over 800 career victories.
He figured the Vuls would adjust sooner, especially considering all the work they’ve put in on their two-strike-hitting approach.
They often swung hard, caught the bottom of the ball and hit easy flyouts. UHH had 11 flyouts.
Still, it was a tough-luck loss for Ung, who went 6 2/3 innings, allowed three runs on six hits and four walks and whiffed five. Through 5 1/3 innings, she led 4-2 and held the Vulcans to three hits.
Then she got the hook from APU coach Carrie Webber, who brought in freshman Grace Brown, who entered with 4 2/3 innings on the year; Ung had 46 2/3 innings.
Sometimes, softball coaches have to think like economists, how far to push a pitcher, knowing that throwing underhand exacts less pitching strain than baseball pitchers.
“I want to be able to give her a rest when I can,” Webber said. “It thought we played pretty well for seven innings. Hilo stuck with it and finished strong to their credit.”
Sometimes, coaches have to go with their gut when they think a game is getting away. Perreira yanked starter Valarie Alvarado, who went four innings in a no-decision.
Brown made Webber look like a genius when she breezed through the sixth and got one out in the seventh.
In the top of the seventh, Kimberly Olivas, UHH’s center fielder, saved a run when she threw out a runner at home for an inning-ending double play.
Then Alana Alvarez pitch hit for No. 9 batter Darian Obara and singled. Lincoln and Olivas both walked, and Ung returned.
Ung jammed No. 3 hitter Markie Okamoto, who lined out to shortstop. Cleanup hitter Brinell Kaleikini worked a full count, and the Vuls were down to their last strike.
Ung thought she could sneak an outside fastball past Kaleikini, who ripped it through the first-and second base hole to tie it 4-4.
If Kaleikini tries to pull the pitch, it’s a routine grounder to shortstop, and the game is over.
“When we stopped trying to swing for the fences, we were ready,” Perreira said. “We adjusted and Brinell just stuck her bat out. That showed what adjustments can do.”
It was new life for the Vulcans and reliever Leah Gonzales, who pitched four shutout innings for the win.
Even better, Gonzales did something all pitching coaches encourage: She didn’t beat herself. She allowed zero walks and whiffed four.
Alvarado started, gave up four runs on four hits and three walks in four innings. She whiffed one.
In the eighth, momentum had switched sides, and UHH had solved Ung, who gave up a double to Kamalei Labasan and a single to Skylar Thomas.
Chloe Domingo walked to load the bases, and Obara flied out to left, setting the stage for Lincoln, with two out.
Ung went back to her cat-and-mouse ways, throwing a pair of balls and hoping Lincoln would bite. Lincoln didn’t and got in a 2-0 hitter’s count.
She took a called strike, and Ung worked a 2-2 count. Ung fired a high, outside fastball. Maybe it was ball three. But for someone who stands just 5 feet, Lincoln has surprising power because of her bat speed.
Lincoln drove the ball deep enough for Labasan to trot home with the game-winner.
“She was throwing a lot of off-speed stuff, and we were anxious,” Lincoln said. “We had to learn to be patient.
“I was looking for something I could drive. I knew we needed one run, and I hit it deep enough to the outfield. I wanted to make contact and hit my pitch and stay on top of it.”
No one paired hits for the Vulcans, but Lincoln went 1 for 3 with three RBIs.
Daniella Toschi belted a two-run homer off Alvarado in the second and went 1 for 4 with two RBIs. Amanda Woods and Jenna Gorman had two hits for the Cougars.
It was another win, an exciting comeback victory, to add to Perreira’s resume and start his team’s homestand off on a good note.
In the second game, Gonzales (4-1) scattered seven hits for a complete-game 5-1 win. She walked zero and whiffed one.
Elizabeth Pitts took the loss.
Lincoln batted 3 for 4, hitting a solo homer, and Kaleikini batted 2 for 2 with two RBIs to lead the Vuls (7-7, 2-0 PacWest).
Gorman had three hits, Emily Moran, Becca Jewett, and Dani Burghardt had two hits each for the Cougars (4-9, 0-4).
The two teams conclude the four-game series with a doubleheader at noon Friday at the UHH field.