There were growing pains along the way, but Heather Morales finished her freshman season with the University of Hawaii softball team the way she started.
Morales scattered six hits while tossing her third shutout of the season to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 2-0 win over UC Davis in their season finale on Saturday at La Rue Field in Davis, Calif.
A day after UC Davis rallied in its final turn at bat to win the second game of a doubleheader, UH coach Bob Coolen said there were some "seventh-inning jitters" again on Saturday.
"But the breaks went our way and it worked out well," Coolen said.
The Rainbow Wahine closed the campaign at 22-28 overall and 7-14 in Big West play, just the third losing season in Coolen’s 23-year tenure.
Morales opened the season back in early February with complete-game shutouts against Hampton and Delaware. She threw her 13th complete game of the season on Saturday, finishing her freshman campaign at 12-11 with a 5.11 earned-run average.
UH second baseman Jazmine Zamora homered in her final college game, a solo shot in the third inning.
The home run was Zamora’s fourth of the season and 10th of her career.
The Wahine managed just one more hit in the game, but the play also produced UH’s second run. Ulu Matagiese singled with runners on first and second in the fourth inning, and an error in center field allowed Jordan Burton to come around to score.
Morales posted one strikeout and one walk and the game ended with Zamora throwing to fellow senior Sharla Kliebenstein for an out at the plate.
The win capped the UH careers of Zamora, Kliebenstein, Jori Jasper and Kaile Nakao.
Elsewhere in the conference, Long Beach State captured the Big West title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with a 10-9 win over UC Santa Barbara in nine innings. The 49ers and Gauchos entered the day tied atop the standings.
| At Davis, Calif. |
| UH (22-28, 7-14) |
001 |
100 |
0 |
— |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| UCD (21-33, 9-12) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
6 |
1 |
Heather Morales and Sharla Kliebenstein. Dana Cruse, Andrea Reynolds (4) and Lauryn Saunders, Caitlin Voss (7).
W–Morales. L–Cruse.
Leading hitters–Hawaii: Jazmine Zamora, HR. UC Davis: Amy Nunez, 2-3, 2B; Kelly Zboralske, 2B; Chandler Wagner, 2-3.
| BIG WEST STANDINGS |
| |
Conference |
|
|
|
Overall |
| |
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
| Long Beach St. |
15 |
6 |
.714 |
— |
38 |
17 |
| Santa Barbara |
14 |
7 |
.667 |
1 |
34 |
20 |
| Cal Poly |
14 |
7 |
.667 |
1 |
33 |
19 |
| CS Fullerton |
13 |
8 |
.619 |
2 |
33 |
21 |
| UC Davis |
9 |
12 |
.429 |
6 |
21 |
33 |
| CS Northridge |
8 |
13 |
.381 |
7 |
31 |
26 |
| Hawaii |
7 |
14 |
.333 |
8 |
22 |
28 |
| UC Riverside |
4 |
17 |
.190 |
10 |
23 |
31 |
Saturday
Hawaii 2, UC Davis 0
CS Fullerton 10, CS Northridge 1
Cal Poly 3, UC Riverside 0
Long Beach State 10, UC Santa Barbara 9 (9 innings)
