CUH Softball Falls to HPU to Open PacWest Play
Freshman pitcher Taylor Genera took the mound for the Silverswords against HPU and went five plus innings.
The Chaminade University softball team opened its Pacific West Conference season Saturday by dropping two in the doubleheader against Hawaii Pacific University at Howard Okita Field in Kaneohe. Coming off a sweep of British Columbia in their season opener, the Silverswords lost 4-3, in the first game then dropped the second game, 8-0, in six innings.
The Chaminade bats never got on track as they went 1-for-18 as a team in the batters box in the second game. Although staying in the game defensively for the first four innings trailing 1-0 in the second game, the Swords’ could not keep the lid closed on the HPU batters as they exploded for 6 runs in the fifth inning taking control of the game. Chaminade fell to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the PacWest Conference.
“I am extremely proud of my young team,” said Kent Yamaguchi, head coach of the Silverswords. “We battled throughout the game never giving up, and I feel when my young players start hitting the ball we will be much more competitive in the conference games ahead.”
The young Silverswords showed grit and heart in the first game, battling back from a 3-1 deficit to tie up the game in the seventh inning and take it into extra innings.
The Chaminade women’s softball team lost both games in the doubleheader on Saturday against intra-city rival HPU at Howard Okita Field in Kaneohe.
After two scoreless innings in the second game, the Sharks got on the board with one run in third by a lead off triple to right field then two batters later a Chaminade error. Freshman pitcher Taylor Genera, got out of the inning by inducing a ground out to shortstop to minimize the damage in the third inning. In the fifth inning the Sharks took advantage of three walks, two errors, and a bases-clearing double by HPU senior Miki Takara which tallied six runs total, four of which were unearned.
“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Genera said. “I tried to focus on getting each batter out by hitting my spots in the strike zone.”
Chaminade never really threatened the Sharks lead during the second game due to the the inability to get hits off of the HPU junior starter Malia Torres, who allowed just one hit and retired the final nine CUH batters. Genera recorded the only hit for the Swords’ in the second game of the doubleheader. The game came to an end in the sixth inning when HPU recorded its eighth run with a lazy single to right and forced the run-ahead rule.
“We made too many mistakes on defense and our offensive attack didn’t show up,” Yamaguchi said. “But with some practice and hard work we can easily clean up these issues, we’re a very young team, actual game time experience will only help and we’ve got a lot of games to look forward to.”
The Silverswords will have their work cut out for them upcoming in their next doubleheader on Sunday against the unanimous PacWest preseason favorite Concordia Irvine at Pasty T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park in the opener of a four-game series. This will be a David vs. Goliath match as Chaminade was picked eighth in the preseason PacWest poll and going into the game the Swords’ have never beaten Concordia Irvine in PacWest Conference season play, dating back to 2015 when the Eagles joined the PacWest conference. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.