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Depth in the pitching circle and production deep in the batting order sent the University of Hawaii softball team to a 2-1 win over Purdue in the first game of a Hawaii Pacific Health Rainbow Wahine Classic doubleheader on Thursday.
UH senior Kanani Aina Cabrales took a shutout into the sixth inning and junior Dana Thomsen snuffed the Boilermakers’ rally for her first save of the season.
The bottom third of the Wahine lineup provided the bulk of the offense, with catcher Heather Cameron and left fielder Jordian Hicks going a combined 5-for-5 and driving in both runs.
UH completed the sweep at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium with a 4-1 win over Connecticut behind junior Brittany Hitchcock’s two-hit, nine-strikeout pitching performance.
UH (18-10) has another doubleheader scheduled today and faces Harvard at 5 p.m. with a matchup with Marist to follow.
Aina Cabrales made her second start since returning from an illness that kept her out of the rotation for nearly two weeks in late February. She allowed one run on three hits, struck out two and walked one before Thomsen entered with one out in the sixth with the tying run on first.
After a strikeout, an infield single and a visit from UH coach Bob Coolen, Thomsen got Madison Douglas to pop up to second base to end the inning and retired the Boilermakers in order in the seventh.
“Kanani gave us what she usually can give us right now,” Coolen said. “She’s not in seven-inning game shape right now. …. We’re slowly getting there, but if we can get her up to seven innings and have three pitchers coming out of the preseason we’ll be looking pretty good.”
Cameron, hitting seventh in the order, gave UH the lead in the second inning with a double to the right-center gap to score Callee Heen from first. After Chardonnay Pantastico’s sacrifice bunt Hicks singled up the middle to score Cameron.
“Jordian is just on fire right now,” Coolen said of Hicks’ follow-up to a 2-for-3 performance against Harvard on Wednesday. “She has so much to offer because she can hit but she can also drop the bunt and has speed on the bases.”
In the second game, Heen’s three-run homer to center field with two out in the bottom of the first inning gave Hitchcock all the run support she needed against UConn.
Nicole Lopez and Heather Morales drilled back-to-back opposite-field doubles in the fifth to extend the lead to 4-0 and chase UConn left-hander Katie Koshes, who held UH to two hits and struck out 11 in the Huskies’ 2-0 win on Tuesday.
Hitchcock’s run of 231⁄3 scoreless innings ended when UConn’s Carli Cutler homered to lead off the seventh inning.
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
>> Purdue (10-18) 000 001 0 — 1 4 0
>> Hawaii (17-10) 020 000 x — 2 9 1
Kaitlynn Moody and Alexa Binckes. Kanani Aina Cabrales, Dana Thomsen (6) and Heather Cameron. W—Aina Cabrales. L—Moody. Sv—Thomsen
Leading hitters—Purdue: Maya Hughes, 2-3; Mallory Baker, RBI. Hawaii: Nicole Lopez, 2-3, sb; Heather Cameron, 3-3, 2B, RBI; Jordian Hicks, 2-2, RBI.
>> UConn (8-13) 000 000 1 — 1 2 0
>> Hawaii (18-10) 300 010 x — 4 7 1
Katie Koshes, Jill Stockley (5) and Chloe Kerns. Brittany Hitchcock and Callee Heen. W—Hitchcock. L—Koshes.
Leading hitters—UConn: Carli Cutler, 2-3, HR. Hawaii: Nicole Lopez, 2-3, 2B; Heather Morales, 2B, RBI; Heen, 2-3, HR, 3 RBIs; Heather Cameron, 2B.
THURSDAY
>> Marist 3, Harvard 2
>> Purdue 8, Harvard 3
TODAY
>> Purdue vs. Harvard, 1 p.m.
>> UConn vs. Marist, 3 p.m.
>> Harvard vs. Hawaii, 5 p.m.
>> Marist vs. Hawaii, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
>> UConn vs. Harvard, 9 a.m.
>> Marist vs. Purdue, 11 a.m.
>> Purdue vs. Hawaii, 1 p.m.
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