Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
Cal State Northridge homered in each of the last three innings and pulled out 6-5 win over the University of Hawaii softball team on Katie Hooper’s walk-off blast in the opener of a Big West series on Friday in Northridge, Calif.
Both teams sent three shots over the Matador Diamond fence in a matchup of the Big West’s top two home run producers, with Hooper’s seventh homer of the season ending the barrage in CSUN’s favor.
The series concludes today with a doubleheader scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Hawaii time.
The Rainbow Wahine (23-12, 2-2) did all of their scoring via the long ball, with freshmen Callee Heen and Chardonnay Pantastico going deep in the second inning and sophomore Nicole Lopez adding a two-run blast in the fifth to give UH a 5-2 lead.
But CSUN (22-13, 2-2), the Big West’s home run leader with 39 this season, answered with Taylor Nate’s solo homer in the bottom of the fifth and Savannah Horvath tied the game with a two-run shot in the sixth.
Hooper ended the game by leading off the bottom of the seventh with a homer to left field on a 2-1 pitch from UH right-hander Brittany Hitchcock.
“It’s a big ballpark … The ball goes above the stadium and the wind just carries it,” UH coach Bob Coolen said in a phone interview. “We hit some bombs, they hit some bombs and ballgame.”
CSUN’s rally gave reliever Rebecca Bell (4-2) the win. She allowed two runs on three hits in 52⁄3 innings after the Wahine chased starter Taylor Troost in the second inning.
Hitchcock (14-7) gave up 10 hits, struck out three and walked two and had a seven-game winning streak snapped. Hitchcock had allowed just five runs in her previous 48 innings and one homer in her last 12 appearances, a span of 731⁄3 innings, before the Matadors’ late-inning outburst.
“They took it really hard because we outplayed them until the last couple innings,” Coolen said.
“Brittany had a lot of 1-2 (count) hit balls, which isn’t good because she’s too around the zone. Against a team like this, they were just sticking their bat out and the ball was flying.”
At Northridge, Calif.
>> UH (23-12, 2-2) 030 020 0 — 5 7 3
>> CSUN (22-13, 2-2) 200 012 1 — 6 10 1
No out when winning run scored
Brittany Hitchcock and Callee Heen. Taylor Trost, Rebecca Bell (2) and Karlie Habitz. W—Bell. L—Hitchcock.
Leading hitters—Hawaii: Nicole Lopez, HR, 2 RBIs; Heen, HR, 2 RBIs; Chardonnay Pantastico, HR. CSUN: Taylor Nate, HR; Jessica Alexander, 2-4, RBI; Katie Hooper, 2-4, HR; Savannah Horvath, 2-3, HR, 2 RBIs; Madison Fleming, 2B.
74