Wahine unbeaten road trip Two more comebacks capped an undefeated road trip for the Hawaii softball team. Leaky defense contributed to the Rainbow Wahine falling behind early in both games of Saturdays Big West doubleheader at UC Riverside. Once they steadied themselves, the Wahine overcame a four-run deficit to rally past the Highlanders 8-7 in the first game. They completed the series sweep with a 4-1 victory in the finale. UH first baseman Leisha Liilii drove in the tie-breaking runs in both games as UH improved to 18-14 overall and opened the conference schedule with a road sweep. The Rainbow Wahine hadnt won more than two games in a row this season prior to the road trip and went 5-0 in their stay in California. They trailed in four before pulling out the wins. We gave them all eight runs and said, Lets play. We can come back, UH coach Bob Coolen said. Were hitting the ball, but were not playing real solid defense. ... Its not pretty, but a win is a win at this time of the year. UH scored three runs in the top of the first in Saturdays opener but committed five errors in the first two innings as UCR (19-17, 0-3) scored six unearned runs to take a 7-3 lead. Lindsey Willmons RBI single in the fourth inning and Sharla Kliebensteins two-run home run in the fifth brought UH to within a run. The Wahine tied the game in the sixth when Keiki Carlos scored from third on an illegal-pitch call. Liilii gave UH the lead with a two-out double in the top of the seventh to score Jazmine Zamora with the go-ahead run. UCR put the tying run at second with two out in the bottom of the inning, but Heather Morales managed to close out a complete-game victory. Morales (8-6) battled through the rough start and gave up eight hits, walked six and struck out three and was charged with just one earned run in the win. Loie Kesterson also went the distance in the second game to earn her second win of the series and third of the trip. Kesterson allowed six hits, struck out two and walked one. The Wahine went ahead in the top of the sixth when Liilii and Wartner led off the inning with back-to-back home runs. Kesterson worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and faced the tying run in the seventh. But a lineout to third started a game-ending double play. Kliebenstein and Wartner enjoyed productive stays in their home state. Kliebenstein, who went 3-for-4 in Saturdays first game, hit .428 over UHs five-game winning streak while driving in seven runs. Wartner hit .357 with three homers in California. UH returns home this week and opens a three-game series with Cal State Fullerton on Friday. At Riverside, Calif. UH (17-14, 2-0) 300 121 1 -- 8 10 5 UCR (19-16, 0-2) 250 000 0 -- 7 8 2 Heather Morales and Sharla Kliebenstein, Kayla Wartner (3). Alyssa Razo, Sophie Slagle (1) and Natalie Sanchez. W--Morales. L--Slagle. Leading hitters--Hawaii: Lindsey Willmon, RBI; Jazmine Zamora, 2-4; Keiki Carlos, 2-5 2b; Leisha Liilii, 2-3, 2B, RBI; Kliebenstein, 3-4, HR, 4 RBIs. UCR: Sanchez, 2b, RBI; Haley Harris 2b, RBI; Ashley Ercolano, RBI; Taylor Wright, 2-3, RBI. At Riverside, Calif. UH (18-14, 3-0) 000 013 0 -- 4 5 2 UCR (19-17, 0-3) 001 000 0 -- 1 6 0 Loie Kesterson and Sharla Kliebenstein. Sophie Slagle and Natalie Sanchez. W--Kesterson. L--Slagle. Leading hitters--Hawaii: Jazmine Zamora, RBI; Leisha Liilii, HR; Kayla Wartner, HR. UCR: Dionne Anderson, RBI; Kris DeAnda, 2-3. BIG WEST SOFTBALL Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Hawaii 3 0 1.000 — 18 14 CS Northridge 1 1 .500 11⁄2 23 12 UCSB 1 1 .500 11⁄2 21 11 Cal Poly 1 1 .500 11⁄2 19 12 CS Fullerton 1 1 .500 11⁄2 20 13 Long Beach St. 0 0 .000 11⁄2 23 9 UC Davis 0 0 .000 11⁄2 11 19 UC Riverside 0 3 .000 3 19 17 SATURDAY Hawaii 8, UC Riverside 7 Hawaii 4, UC Riverside 1 CS Fullerton 10, UCSB 0 UCSB 6, CS Fullerton 1 Cal Poly 1, CS Northridge 0 Long Beach State at UC Davis, ppd.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 12:57:58 +0000
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