Power from proven and unexpected sources propelled Long Beach State to a doubleheader sweep of Hawaii to open a Big West softball series on Friday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
The Beach arrived in Honolulu second in the Big West with 18 home runs and pounded seven more, including two grand slams, in 10-2 and 8-1 wins over the Rainbow Wahine.
LBSU corner outfielders Naomi Hernandez and Breezy Wise, who entered the week with just one home between them, delivered two of the Beach’s three home runs in a seven-run top of the second inning in Friday’s opener. Wise started the outburst with a solo shot and Hernandez launched a grand slam for her first homer of the season.
Alyssa Gonzalez, the conference’s leading hitter, entered the weekend with four home runs and nearly matched that total with a two-run shot in the first game and two more homers in the nightcap as The Beach (24-6, 18-3 Big West) clinched the series win. Gonzalez’s third homer of the night cleared the netting beyond the left-field fence and she walked up the first-base line to admire its flight before flipping her bat.
Wise also homered again in the second game and catcher Justine Briones capped the night with a grand slam in the top of the seventh.
LBSU right-hander Kellie White (12-4) held UH to five hits in the first game and Samantha Fowler (2-1) struck out a career-high 12 in another five-hit performance in the second game.
“All I know is 18 runs, 24 hits, not going to win too many ballgames unless you have a slugfest with them and we didn’t,” UH coach Bob Coolen said.
“We worked on what they were going to throw to us, we talked about it all week, we didn’t produce much and obviously our pitching just wasn’t there. So come back tomorrow and see what happens.”
UH’s Jetta Nannen (7-6) took the loss in the opener after The Beach’s power surge in the second inning. Ashley Murphy (3-4) kept the Rainbow Wahine (11-11, 10-7) within striking distance through six innings in the second game until The Beach pulled away with a five-run seventh.
The series concludes today with a 2 p.m. doubleheader at RWSS. Only the first game, the third of the series, will count in the conference standings.
All nine hitters in the LBSU order contributed at least one hit to The Beach’s 12-hit outburst in Friday’s first game.
Wise opened the scoring with an opposite-field home run to left and The Beach loaded the bases on a walk, a single just over third base and an infield single.
Hernandez, LBSU’s leadoff hitter, entered the series hitting .436 with no home runs and had driven in just eight runs in 27 starts this season. She added her first home run and four more RBIs to her stat line with a grand slam that gave LBSU a 5-0 lead. Gonzalez added a two-run blast to give The Beach a 7-0 lead.
LBSU built a 3-0 lead on Hernandez’s RBI single in the second inning, Wise’s home run to right-center in the fourth and Gonzalez’s homer in the fifth. UH threatened with runners on second and third with two out in the bottom of the sixth, but Fowler escaped with her 11th strikeout.
The Beach pulled away in the seventh, with Gonzalez going deep again and Briones hitting her second homer of the season.
UH broke up the shutout in the bottom of the seventh when Brittnee Rossi’s looper into shallow center dropped in amid a collision of three LBSU players, allowing Mama Rivera to score from second.
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
LBSU (23-6, 17-3) 070 21 — 10 12 1
Hawaii (11-10, 10-6) 001 10 — 2 5 0
Kellie White and Justine Briones. Jetta Nannen, Dominique Martinez (3), Izzy Dino (5) and Ka’ena Keliinoi, Mya’Liah Bethea (5). W—White. L—Nannen.
Leading hitters—LBSU: Naomi Hernandez, grand slam; Alyssa Gonzalez, HR; Breezy Wise, 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs; Suzy Brookshire, 2-3, 2B, RBI; Emily Salazar, RBI; Kyra Snyder, 2-2. Hawaii: Brittnee Rossi, RBI; Nawai Kaupe, 2-2; Maya Nakamura, 2B, RBI; Mama Rivera, 2B.
—
LBSU (24-6, 18-3) 010 110 5 — 8 12 0
Hawaii (11-11, 10-7) 000 000 1 — 1 5 1
Samantha Fowler and Justine Briones. Ashley Murphy and Ka’ena Keliinoi. W—Fowler. L—Murphy.
Leading hitters—LBSU: Naomi Hernandez, RBI; Breezy Wise, 2-4, HR; Alyssa Gonzalez, 2-4, 2 HRs; Emily Salazar, 2-4, 2B; Kyra Snyder, 2-2; Briones, grand slam. Hawaii: Bree Soma, 2-3; Dallas Millwood, 2B; Brittnee Rossi, RBI.
