Two efficient pitching performances made for a quick rematch between Hawaii and Oregon on Saturday morning.
While Rainbow Wahine sophomore Loie Kesterson turned in a solid outing against the second-ranked Ducks, Oregon’s Cheridan Hawkins was dominant in a 3-0 victory in a Pepsi Rainbow Wahine Classic semifinal game.
Hawkins — an All-Pac-12 selection as a freshman and a member of the U.S. national team last summer — retired the first 14 batters she faced, 10 on strikeouts. She held UH to two hits in her eighth shutout of the season.
Oregon (23-3) placed second in the tournament, losing to James Madison 3-0 in the championship game.
Hawaii closed the weekend at 2-4, capping a 16-game homestand. The Wahine are 13-14 overall. They’ll have a week off before going on the road for their last two nonconference games and the start of Big West play.
"It’s turned out to be about what I expected," UH coach Bob Coolen said of UH’s up-and-down nonconference showing. "There were some unexpected losses, but then there were some real good wins.
"We got some answers to some questions, but conference is such a different bear because everyone’s always out to get each other."
The Rainbow Wahine focus on midterms and prepare for their trip to California in late March. They face Loyola Marymount and Missouri-Kansas City in a nonconference doubleheader in Los Angeles on March 26. They open the Big West schedule March 28 at UC Riverside.
"I think right now it’ll be a good time for us to come together as a team and have a fresh start going into the Big West," UH senior Sharla Kliebenstein said.
As for Saturday’s game, UH can find plenty of company in struggling to score against Hawkins (13-2). The sophomore left-hander has given up three earned runs in her past 12 starts, a span of 85 innings.
"We were chasing her riseball and she was painting the outside corner," Coolen said.
After losing to Oregon 12-4 in its first game on Friday, Hawaii earned a second shot at the Ducks with an 8-4 late-night win over Valparaiso.
A little more than 12 hours after Kesterson (7-5) threw her last pitch in the complete-game victory Friday, she was in the circle again for Saturday’s 11 a.m. semifinal.
She struck out three and walked one while throwing 69 pitches in a game that took 93 minutes.
"I was focusing on getting ahead and keeping it low," Kesterson said. "My curve is getting back into it, so that was getting a lot of ground balls for me, too.
"I was a little tired today, but I knew I had to get past the fatigue."
Two of the six hits she surrendered proved to be the difference. Janelle Lindvall fell behind two strikes with two out in the bottom of the first inning before stroking a single into center to score Courtney Ceo with the game’s first run.
In the fifth, Ceo looped a two-out single into shallow left to score Koral Costa from second. The throw to the plate hit Costa’s helmet and ricocheted toward the Oregon dugout and Nikki Urdria came in to score the Ducks’ third run.
Hawkins, who finished with 11 strikeouts, faced the minimum through 42/3 innings before Kliebenstein hit a soft liner into left to break up the perfect game.
Leisha Li’ili’i added a double to right with two out in the seventh. Hawkins then got a flyout on her 97th pitch and her 72nd strike.
"I don’t think we’re going to see anybody better, so I think it was good conditioning for us," Kliebenstein said.
| At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium |
| Hawaii (13-14) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
2 |
1 |
| Oregon (23-2) |
100 |
000 |
x |
— |
3 |
6 |
0 |
Loie Kesterson and Sharla Kliebenstein. Cheridan Hawkins and Janelle Lindvall. W-Hawkins. L–Kesterson.
Leading hitters–Hawaii: Leisha Li’ili’i, 2B. Oregon: Courtney Ceo, 3-3, RBI; Lindvall, 2-3, 2B, RBI.
Semifinal
James Madison 3, BYU 1
Championship
James Madison 3, Oregon 2
