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Rainbow Wahine swept by UCF, Washington

UCF right-hander Shelby Turnier took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the 19th-ranked Knights shut out the University of Hawaii softball team 4-0 on Saturday in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational.

Turnier, the reigning espnW national player of the week, struck out 13 and held the Rainbow Wahine (8-5) without a hit until UH shortstop Sarina Jaramillo flared a single into right field with two out in the bottom of the seventh.

UH (8-6) then fell to No. 16 Washington 6-4 in the second game of its doubleheader at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The Huskies hit three home runs and held off a UH rally to improve to 13-2 overall and 3-0 in the tournament.

Turnier (6-1) entered the game against UH with a 0.92 earned run average and 55 strikeouts in 38 innings. She struck out the first six batters she faced and had eight strikeouts through three innings.

UCF loaded the bases in the top of the first inning and gave Turnier a lead on Kalyn Cenal’s groundout to third to score Kahley Novak.

Cenal stretched the lead to 3-0 with a two-run homer in the top of the third after a UH error extended the inning. Farrah Sullivan’s sacrifice fly in the sixth capped the scoring.

Turnier got two fly outs to right in the bottom of the seventh before Jaramillo’s single. She finished off the one-hitter with a strike out on her 108th pitch. UH starter Kanani Aina Cabrales struck out four and walked none over five innings and took the loss.

In the final game of the day, UH pounced early against Washington with back-to-back doubles by Lindsey Willmon and Kayla Wartner to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Wartner later scored on a wild pitch to give UH a 2-0 lead.

Washington cut into the lead on Kelli Suguro’s solo homer in the second and jumped ahead 3-2 on Kylee Lahners’ two-run shot in the third.

Leisha Li’ili’i tied it up in the bottom of the third with her second home run of the season and 40th of her career, a towering blast into the tennis courts beyond center field.

Washington answered with its third homer of the game, a two-run shot by Taylor Van Zee after Ali Aguilar walked with two out in the fourth to give the Huskies a 5-3 lead.

UH closed to within a run when Jaramillo scored on a passed ball, but Washington capitalized on Wahine miscues to extend the lead. Kelly Burdick laid down a bunt in the top of the sixth and a throwing error allowed her to reach second. She advanced on a passed ball then scored on Aguilar’s sacrifice fly to center.

UH brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh after Wartner doubled down the right field line with two out. But a popup to second ended the game and gave Hailey Bator the win in relief of starter Kasey Stanchek.

Brittany Hitchcock (3-3) struck out two and walked two over four innings and took the loss.

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