Hawaii took the lead on two home runs Friday night only to have UNLV rally with the long ball in a 6-3 win in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
The Rainbow Wahine erased a 1-0 deficit with back-to-back home runs by senior Heather Morales and freshman Callee Heen in the bottom of the third inning. The Rebels responded with Abby Howard’s solo homer in the fifth and tied the game in the sixth before Justine Federe launched a two-out, two-run shot to give the Rebels the lead for good.
UNLV ace Morgan Ettinger, the reigning Mountain West Conference pitcher of the week, survived UH’s power surge in the third and left the bases loaded in the seventh to improve to 7-0. The senior right-hander relied on her defense for all 21 outs, finishing without a strikeout or a walk.
Although the home runs helped push UNLV ahead, UH coach Bob Coolen also lamented missed opportunities offensively after the Wahine left nine runners on base.
“We didn’t execute,” Coolen said. “That game was all about who’s going to get more runners over to second base and they did a better job.”
UH right-hander Brittany Hitchcock went the distance in the loss, giving up eight hits while striking out three and walking two.
After dropping their first two games of the tournament to No. 5 Oregon and UNLV, the Wahine (4-5) face both teams again in a doubleheader today. UH is scheduled to face the Ducks (12-0) at 2 p.m. and UNLV (8-3) at 4.
The Rebels had a four-game winning streak snapped with a 4-2 loss to No. 5 Oregon prior to facing UH and took the lead on Janine Petmecky’s two-out RBI single in the top of the first inning.
After Nicole Lopez singled with one out in the third, Morales was late on a fastball, then waited on a changeup, launching it into the net beyond left center. Heen then took a strike before sending a towering shot out to center to give UH a 3-1 lead.
After Howard homered in the fifth, Brianna Gatlin’s sharp single into right field scooted under the glove of UH freshman Bree Soma and Gatlin reached third on the error. Petmecky followed with a tying sacrifice fly to center and after a two-out walk Federe’s fly to center cleared the fence to give the Rebels the lead.
“I was just looking in because that’s what (Hitchcock) got me on last time,” Federe said. “So I was just expecting it.”
UNLV added another run in the seventh when Mililani graduate Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez scored on Kiley Harrison’s infield single.
UH leadoff hitter Danielle Garcielita reached first on an error to start the bottom of the seventh and Sarah Muzik followed with an infield single to bring the tying run to the plate. But Ettinger got two pop-ups, then hit Heen to load the bases. But she fielded Soma’s one-hopper back to the circle for the final out.
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
UNLV (8-3) 100 013 1 — 6 8 1
Hawaii (4-5) 003 000 0 — 3 8 2
Morgan Ettinger and Kiley Harrison. Brittany Hitchcock and Heather Cameron. W—Ettinger. L—Hitchcock.
Leading hitters—UNLV: Harrison, 2-4, RBI; Janine Petmecky, 2 RBIs; Justine Federe, 2-3, HR, 2 RBIs; Abby Howard, HR.
Hawaii: Sarah Muzik, 2-4; Heather Morales, 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Callee Heen, HR.
Friday’s early games
Oregon 1, Montana 0
Oregon 4, UNLV 2
Today
Montana vs. Oregon, 10 a.m.
Montana vs. UNLV, noon
Oregon vs. Hawaii, 2 p.m.
UNLV vs. Hawaii, 4 pm.
