Kristina Akiona posted four hits in limited playing time her freshman year.
Her first as a sophomore will be one to remember.
Akiona’s home run in the bottom of the sixth inning powered Hawaii to a 2-0 season-opening win over Hampton on Thursday in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic.
Akiona, making her third career start, broke a scoreless tie with her two-run shot to left center — her first homer at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium — and UH freshman Heather Morales closed out a complete-game shutout in her collegiate debut.
"I think it was a great win for us," Akiona said. "I think we’re still trying to feel each other out, trying to find our chemistry, trying to find our niche. We are starting to come together you could see in the last couple innings and I think we’ll be fine."
The three-day tournament continues today with UH scheduled to face Delaware at 6 p.m. and UCLA at 8.
The Rainbow Wahine went 42/3 innings before recording their first hit of the season — a single by Jazmine Zamora — against Hampton junior Jailynn Jackson, the reigning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference pitcher of the year.
Jackson held UH scoreless going into the sixth before Akiona hit her second career homer to open the season in dramatic fashion.
"It was going to be drama from the get-go," UH coach Bob Coolen said. "We haven’t been on the field, we haven’t really jelled as a lineup, two suspended players, not really sure what to expect. All the elements that could have created that drama happened and we hung in there."
Morales held Hampton to three hits, walked three and struck out three and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, ending the game with a groundout to Akiona at shortstop.
"All I was thinking about was getting a ground ball to the infield," Morales said of closing out her first win. "That’s all that mattered to me."
Akiona played in just 16 games as a freshman while backing up Jessica Iwata at shortstop. She had four hits in 17 at-bats, with a home run at Cal State Bakersfield accounting for her lone RBI of the season.
"I did learn a lot from Jessica," Akiona said. "Sitting last year wasn’t just sitting for me. I had to learn from her and saw what she did."
Akiona popped up and walked in her first two plate appearances on Thursday and hammered a long foul ball before working the count full with one out in the sixth and Jori Jasper on first base.
"(Jackson) was trying to give me riseballs the entire time, so it was just a game of adjustments," Akiona said. "After I hit that foul ball I was feeling good, so I just came back and tried to hack away."
UH played the season opener without senior Sharla Kliebenstein and freshman shortstop Sarina Jaramillo due to violations of team rules. Kliebenstein is expected to start in center field today while Akiona earned herself another start at shortstop.
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
| Hampton (0-1) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
3 |
0 |
| Hawaii (1-0) |
000 |
002 |
x |
— |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Jailynn Jackson and McKalee Rouse. Heather Morales and Kayla Wartner.
W—Morales. L—Jackson.
Leading hitters—Hawaii: Kristina Akiona, HR, 2 RBIs.
UCLA 10, DELAWARE 0, 5 INN.
Ally Carda threw a no-hitter, stuck out six and allowed two walks in the Bruins’ five-inning rout of the Blue Hens.
Punahou graduate Mysha Sataraka walked and scored in her first two plate appearances and delivered a two-run single in the third inning.
TODAY’S GAMES
Hampton vs. Delaware, 2 p.m.
Hampton vs. UCLA, 4 p.m.
Hawaii vs. Delaware, 6 p.m.
Hawaii vs. UCLA, 8 p.m.
