Another solid pitching performance from Brittany Hitchcock and a productive afternoon from a revamped lineup powered the University of Hawaii softball team to a doubleheader sweep on Sunday to close the Outrigger Resorts Spring Fling Tournament.
Hitchcock turned in her second straight complete-game performance against a Pac-12 team and the Rainbow Wahine won a rematch with Utah 5-1 in their first game of the afternoon at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
The UH offense then overpowered East Carolina in an 11-3 win in six innings in the finale. UH (16-9) pounded out a season-high 15 hits, including four home runs, to finish the tournament at 4-1.
After playing five games in the last four days, the Rainbow Wahine will have a day off on Monday before taking on East Carolina again on Tuesday at 6 p.m. They then open the five-day Hawaii Pacific Heath Rainbow Wahine Classic on Wednesday.
"This week we’re really successful because we didn’t have a lot of time to think about our mistakes, we just had to move on and get after it," Hitchcock said. "I think it actually works out well for us having a lot of games. So this will be another week challenging us to see if we can play Tuesday through Sunday and hopefully we can come out with the same energy, same pop in our bat and pitchers doing well."
UH first baseman Heather Morales hit .462 in the tournament with two home runs and nine RBIs and was named tournament MVP. Hitchcock posted a 0.69 earned-run average while going 3-0 in the Spring Fling to earn most valuable pitcher honors.
Coming off a complete-game victory against Oregon State on Friday, Hitchcock gave up five hits over the first two innings against Utah on Sunday. She didn’t surrender another until the seventh and UH avenged Saturday’s 8-1 loss to the Utes.
Hitchcock retired 12 consecutive Utah batters before giving up a leadoff single in the top of the seventh. She walked one and didn’t record a strikeout, relying on the Wahine defense in her fourth complete game of the season.
"It was little weird. I told my team it definitely wasn’t my best game but they did a good job backing me up," Hitchcock said. "(Shortstop) Sarina (Jaramillo) had a lot of plays to her and we were able to work through it."
Hitchcock also started the finale against ECU and trailed 1-0 when UH coach Bob Coolen summoned Kanani Aina Cabrales from the bullpen.
"Kanani’s been reveling coming into this relief role," Coolen said. "We needed Kanani to come in and then our bats got on fire again and we started hitting the ball and playing relaxed ball and making the plays."
UH fell behind by a run in both games and catcher Kayla Wartner delivered go-ahead hits in both matchups. Her two-run double sparked UH’s five-run rally in the bottom of the third inning against Utah with Keiki Carlos, Lindsey Willmon and Heather Morales following with RBI singles.
Wartner also erased East Carolina’s 1-0 lead in the third inning again, this time with a two-run homer into the tennis courts beyond center field to punctuate an 11-pitch at bat.
"I just was telling myself to put the ball in play and make something happen," said Wartner, who was named to the all-tournament team. "(ECU pitcher Sarah Christian) was pretty much bringing it the whole time and I just fouled off pitches until I got a really good one I liked and it just happened to go over the fence."
Wartner moved into the leadoff spot for the first time this season on Sunday as Coolen shuffled several positions in the order.
"We had to jumble it again because we just didn’t do anything in that 8-1 loss to Utah," Coolen said. "We thought about it and Kayla’s the one swinging the hot bat."
Wartner’s blast was the first of four UH home runs in a span of three innings against ECU. Willmon went to the opposite field for a three-run homer in the fourth inning and Rachel Lack and Leisha Li’ili’i hit back-to-back homers in the fifth. Li’ili’i ended the game with a line drive double into the left-field corner to score Lack from first and bring the run rule into effect.
Aina Cabrales gave up two runs on three hits, struck out three and walked two while improving to 8-6.
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Utah (17-6) |
010 |
000 |
0 |
— |
1 |
6 |
0 |
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Hawaii (15-9) |
005 |
000 |
x |
— |
5 |
6 |
1 |
Miranda Viramontes, Katie Donovan (3) and Shelby Pacheco. Brittany Hitchcock and Kayla Wartner. W–Hitchcock. L–Viramontes.
Leading hitters–Utah: Marissa Mendenhall, 2B. Hawaii: Wartner, 2B, 2 RBIs; Keiki Carlos, RBI; Lindsey Willmon, RBI; Heather Morales, 2-3, RBI;
E. Carolina (7-14) |
010 |
020 |
— |
3 |
6 |
0 |
Hawaii (16-9) |
|
002 |
531 |
— |
11 |
15 |
0 |
Sarah Christian, Caroline Umphlett (4) and Abby Wynne. Brittany Hitchcock, Kanani Aina Cabrales (3) and Kayla Wartner. W–Aina Cabrales. L–Christian.
Leading hitters–East Carolina: Mary-Sloan Bradford, RBI; Casey Alcorn, RBI; Megan Quick, 2-3, RBI. Hawaii: Wartner, HR, 2 RBIs; Keiki Carlos, 2-3, 2B, 2 RBIs; Lindsey Willmon, 2-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBIs; Sarina Jaramillo, 3-4; Rachel Lack, 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Leisha Li’ili’i, 2-4, 2B, HR; Tayana Mata, 2-3, 2B.