A three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning powered UC Santa Barbara to a 6-4 series clinching win over the University of Hawaii softball team on Sunday.
After splitting a wild doubleheader on Saturday, the Rainbow Wahine chased the Gauchos for much of the Big West series finale at UCSB’s Campus Diamond.
UH caught UCSB with two runs in the top of the sixth inning, but the Gauchos pulled away again in the bottom half by stringing five consecutive hits, and held off the Wahine in the seventh.
"They’re a scrappy team, they get up there and they hit the ball," UH coach Bob Coolen said after the Wahine fell into seventh place in the conference.
UH (20-24, 5-10 BWC) has six games to try to get back to .500 and closes the home schedule with a series against Cal State Northridge (29-22, 6-9) starting Friday.
A game-ending double play closed out a complete-game win for UCSB pitcher Shelby Wisdom. She gave up 10 hits, struck out two and walked two while improving to 18-13.
UH freshman Heather Morales (10-9) also went the distance and gave up six runs on 11 hits and walked one with no strikeouts in the loss.
UCSB (30-18, 10-5) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning and UH answered with Kayla Wartner’s home run in the third.
The Gauchos led 3-1 going into the sixth and UH shortstop Sarina Jaramillo drove in Jordan Burton with her first triple of the season. Jaramillo then scored the tying run on Sharla Kliebenstein’s sacrifice fly.
UCSB reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning on Emily Brucelas’ RBI single. Stacy Cavazos drove in Brucelas with a double, and Kristen Clark, who went 4-for-4, added another run-scoring single.
Morales drove in Keiki Carlos with a single in the top of the seventh and the Wahine had runners on first and second with one out. But Cavazos snared Jaramillo’s line drive to center field and caught the runner off second for the game-ending double play.
At Santa Barbara, Calif.
| UH (20-24, 5-10) |
001 |
002 |
1 |
— |
4 |
10 |
0 |
| UCSB (30-18, 10-5) |
020 |
013 |
x |
— |
6 |
11 |
1 |
Heather Morales and Sharla Kliebenstein. Shelby Wisdom and Meshalon Moore. W—Wisdom, L—Morales.
Leading hitters—Hawaii: Kayla Wartner, 2-3, HR; Sarina Jaramillo, 2-4, 3B, RBI; Kliebenstein, RBI; Lindsey Willmon, 2-3, Morales, 2-4, RBI. UCSB: Kristen Clark, 4-4, 2 RBIs; Lauren Boser, 2-3, 2B, RBI; Emily Brucelas, 2 RBIs; Stacy Cavazos, RBI.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
| |
Conference |
|
|
|
Overall |
| Team |
W |
L |
GB |
Pct. |
W |
L |
| Long Beach St. |
13 |
2 |
— |
.867 |
36 |
13 |
| Santa Barbara |
10 |
5 |
3 |
.667 |
30 |
18 |
| Cal Poly |
9 |
6 |
4 |
.600 |
28 |
18 |
| CS Fullerton |
8 |
7 |
5 |
.533 |
27 |
20 |
| CS Northridge |
6 |
9 |
7 |
.400 |
29 |
22 |
| UC Davis |
6 |
9 |
7 |
.400 |
17 |
29 |
| Hawaii |
5 |
10 |
8 |
.333 |
20 |
24 |
| UC Riverside |
3 |
12 |
9 |
.200 |
22 |
26 |
Sunday
UC Santa Barbara 6, Hawaii 4
CS Fullerton 5, Cal Poly 3
Long Beach State 10, CS Northridge 0
UC Riverside 8, UC Davis 2
