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Hawaii first baseman Heather Morales hit a home run in the fifth inning to back up Brittany Hitchcock’s two-hit shutout and the Rainbow Wahine softball team opened its season with a 2-0 win over Saint Mary’s today in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic.
Hitchcock set a career high with eight strikeouts and walked none in her fifth shutout with the Rainbow Wahine. She threw 65 of her 87 pitches for strikes and allowed just three baserunners.
Saint Mary’s right hander Katie Moss was perfect through four innings with five strikeouts until Morales broke it up with a home run to center field on the first pitch of the fifth inning. Moss held UH to two hits, struck out eight and walked two in the loss.
The Gaels threatened in the top of the sixth with a runner on second and two out. UH shortstop Breanna Ojala made a diving stop of Monika Reichhardt’s grounder up the middle and threw a strike to catcher Rachel Lack, who tagged out Dylan Linton out at the plate.
UH gave Hitchcock more cushion in the bottom of the inning when freshman Nicole Lopez lined a two-out double into the right-center gap to score Sarah Muzik from second. Hitchcock then retired the Gaels in order in the seventh to cap the opening-night victory.
The tournament continues Friday with UH facing Ole Miss at 5 p.m. and UMKC at 7.
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