Photo Gallery: UH vs. Syracuse softball
The University of Hawaii softball team weathered a bit of late-inning drama on Friday to avoid an early start this morning.
Rainbow Wahine left-hander Kaia Parnaby was in control for much of UH’s matchup with Syracuse before the Orange mounted a threat in the seventh. But Parnaby stifled the rally to preserve a 2-0 victory in the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament.
With the win, No. 20/23 UH assured itself a spot in today’s 2 p.m. game against No. 15/19 Baylor in the bracket portion of the tournament at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
Syracuse (7-13) fell to 1-3 on the week and will play Utah in the 10 a.m. opener. The winner of that game faces top-seeded California at noon. The tournament championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m.
UH needed at least a split of Friday’s doubleheader to stay out of the early game and took care of that task behind Parnaby’s second victory over Syracuse this week.
UH (20-7) lost to Baylor 5-3 in the second game of the doubleheader and will be the third seed in the bracket, but accomplished one of its primary goals for the evening.
“We knew Kaia did a good job against Syracuse before; she did another good job today,” UH coach Bob Coolen said. “We wanted to stay out of that (No. 4 vs. No. 5) game so we didn’t have to play possibly three games (today).”
The UH offense scratched out runs with two-out singles by Jazmine Zamora and Jessica Iwata in the fourth and fifth innings.
Iwata walked to lead off the fourth and took second on a delayed steal. With two out, Zamora’s sharp grounder caromed off of Syracuse shortstop Morgan Nandin and into shallow center. Iwata rounded third and slid around the attempted tag at the plate to score the game’s first run.
Iwata added to the lead in the fifth with her first hit of the tournament, a single up the middle, allowing Brynne Buchanan to score from second.
Parnaby, who tied a school record with 15 strikeouts in Monday’s win over the Orange, posted 11 more in the rematch and protected the lead as UH bounced back from Thursday’s 1-0 loss to No. 4/5 Cal.
Parnaby (18-3) held Syracuse to two hits and walked none. She retired the first 13 hitters she faced — eight on strikeouts — before hitting back-to-back batters with one out in the fifth. She got out of that inning with a fly out and a grounder and gave up her first hit when Ashley Dimon led off the sixth with a single to center.
Baylor 5, Hawaii 3
Baylor junior Whitney Canion, a second-team All-American in 2011, struck out 10 and held UH to three hits as the Bears (25-4) clinched the second seed in the bracket.
UH freshman Loie Kesterson made her second start of the season and Baylor took the lead on a throwing error in the second inning. The Bears went up 2-0 in the fourth when Robin Landrick tripled into the right-field corner and scored on Holly Holl’s big-hop single over third base.
The Wahine tied the score in the fourth when Sharla Kliebenstein broke out of an 0-for-13 stretch with a two-run homer to center field.
The Bears reclaimed the lead in the fifth on Sarah Smith’s RBI single. Landrick added a two-run single later in the inning to go up 5-2.
UH got a run back in the sixth on Leisha Li‘ili‘i’s solo home run to center, but Canion struck out the side in the seventh.
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Syracuse (7-13) 000 000 0 — 0 2 1
Hawaii (20-6) 000 110 x — 2 6 0
Lindsay Taylor and Ashley Dimon. Kaia Parnaby and Kayla Wartner. W—Parnaby. L—Taylor.
Leading hitters—Hawaii: Jessica Iwata, RBI; Jazmine Zamora, RBI.
Baylor (25-4) 010 130 0 — 5 11 0
Hawaii (20-7) 000 201 0 — 3 3 1
Whitney Canion and Clare Hosack. Loie Kesterson, Keiki Carlos (6) and Sharla Kliebenstein. W—Canion. L—Kesterson.
Leading hitters—Baylor: Kaitlyn Thumann, 2-3; Kathy Shelton, 2-4; Sarah Smith, RBI; Robin Landrick, 3-3, 3B, 2 RBIs; Holly Holl, RBI; Kelsi Kettler, 2-3. Hawaii: Leisha Li’ili’i, HR; Sharla Kliebestein, HR, 2 RBIs; Jazmine Zamora, 2B.
Friday’s early game
California 2, Syracuse 1
Today
Syracuse vs. Utah, 10 a.m.
California vs. Game 1 winner, noon
Baylor vs. Hawaii, 2 p.m.
Championship, 4 p.m.
