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UH softball team splits doubleheader with Columbia

Hawaii pitcher Kanani Aina Cabrales powered the Rainbow Wahine in the circle and at the plate in striking out a season-high 13 and drilling the second of the team’s three home runs in a 5-1 victory over Columbia in the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The Rainbow Wahine rallied from a two-run deficit in the finale to force extra innings, but Columbia scored three runs in the top of the eighth then held off a Wahine comeback and UH closed the nonconference schedule with a 7-6 loss to the Lions.

Heather Morales gave UH the lead in the first game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and Aina Cabrales lined the second pitch of the bottom of the third over the center field fence for the first hit of her UH career. Kayla Wartner hit her team-leading eighth home run of the season in the fifth to cap the scoring.

Aina Cabrales held Columbia to five hits, walked none and threw 76 of her 100 pitches for strikes to improve to 9-8.

She returned in the second inning of the finale in relief of Brittany Hitchcock with UH trailing 2-0. The Wahine responded with two runs in the third with four consecutive two-out singles and a bases-loaded walk to Leisha Li’ili’i.

But Columbia reclaimed the lead in the fourth on Mackensy Lakian’s double. She eventually came around to score on Alix Cook’s single.

UH closed to within a run on Sarina Jaramillo’s RBI single in the sixth and caught the Lions again when Li’ili’i led off the seventh with a line-drive homer to right-center.

With the international tiebreaker in effect, both teams started the eighth inning with a runner on second base and Columbia reclaimed the lead on Tonia Wu’s RBI double down the third-base line. Wu eventually scored on a wild pitch and Kayla Shimoda extended the lead to 7-4 with a looping single into left field.

With Kiani Wong running at second, Keiki Carlos led off the bottom of the eighth with a two-run homer to left center to bring the Wahine within a run. But Columbia pitcher Tessa Kroll got a strikeout and two groundouts to give the Lions (3-9) a split of the doubleheader.

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