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University of Hawaii freshman Keiki Carlos’ home run to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Rainbow Wahine softball team a 5-4 win over UC Davis tonight in the opener of a Big West series.
Carlos homered twice in the game, the second sending UH to its sixth straight win as the No. 18/22 Rainbow Wahine improved to 26-7 overall and 4-0 in Big West play.
UH senior Kaia Parnaby went the distance in the circle and raised her record to 24-3, striking out 11 while walking three and giving up nine hits. UCD sophomore Justine Vela also struck out 11 over nine innings and took the loss to fall to 8-3.
UC Davis took the lead in the top of the first on a two-run homer by Kelly Schulze and UH answered with Kelly Majam’s solo shot to center in the third.
The Aggies extended the lead to 3-1 in the fifth when Krista Bava scored on a wild pitch with two out in the inning.
Carlos erased the deficit in the fifth with her fourth home run of the season, a three-run shot to left center with Brynne Buchanan and Majam on base.
UCD battled back with a two-out rally in the sixth to tie the game. After UCD kept the inning alive with a single and a walk, JJ Wagoner’s liner landed just inside the left-field line to score Chandler Wagner from second.
Vela and Parnaby threw scoreless seventh innings and UH went into extra innings in its second straight home game.
After Parnaby retired the Aggies in order in the 10th, Carlos sent Vela’s first pitch in the bottom of the inning out to center field to end the game.
UH and UC Davis close the series with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2 p.m.
