The University of Hawaii softball team ended its stay in Fullerton, Calif., with a series win and its place atop the Big West Conference standings still secure.
The Rainbow Wahine’s win streak, however, did not survive the weekend.
Cal State Fullerton handed the Rainbow Wahine their first Big West loss of the season with an 11-3 upset in five innings on Sunday.
UH had gone nearly a month since losing to Baylor on March 15 while rising to No. 15 and 20 in the national polls. The Wahine ran their streak to 13 with a doubleheader sweep to open the series at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, but saw it end Sunday before a sellout crowd at Anderson Family Field.
"There was a lot of energy at the ballpark and we weren’t as energized as we were yesterday," UH coach Bob Coolen said. "We never really got into a rhythm."
UH reached the halfway point of its Big West schedule at 33-8 overall and 11-1 in conference play, ending the week with a two-game lead over second-place Pacific.
The Wahine continue their 11-day, seven-game road trip with a nonconference game at Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday. They resume Big West play on Friday with a series at Cal Poly.
The Titans (17-25, 4-8) struck early on Saturday, then maintained the momentum throughout while posting 12 hits and taking advantage of five UH errors.
"We could have taken the lead, but we did some silly baserunning and just didn’t do some things correctly where we could have put pressure on them and they put pressure on us," Coolen said. "They short-balled us to death. Their short game was working, they were stealing bases, they did everything right today."
Cal State Fullerton shortstop Gabby Aragon drove in four runs for the Titans, three coming on a home run in the bottom of the first inning. The Titans pulled away with a five-run third inning and brought the eight-run rule into effect in the fifth on a two-run single by Ariel Tsuchiyama.
UH senior Kaia Parnaby (30-4) gave up a season-high nine runs, five earned, on nine hits in 22⁄3 innings.
At Fullerton, Calif.
Hawaii |
021 |
00 |
— |
3 |
5 |
5 |
CS Fullerton |
315 |
02 |
— |
11 |
12 |
2 |
Kaia Parnaby, Loie Kesterson (3) and Kayla Wartner, Sharla Kliebenstein (3). Monique Wesley, Desiree Ybarra (3) and Ariel Tsuchiyama. W—Ybarra. L—Parnaby.
Leading hitters—Hawaii: Kelly Majam, HR; Kliebenstein HR, 2 RBIs. CS Fullerton: Tsuchiyama, 3-4, 3 RBIs; Eliza Crawford, 3B, RBI; Gabby Aragon, 2-3, 2B, HR, 4 RBIs; Carissa Turang, 2-3, Tiffany Sheffler, 2-2.