By the time Hawaii recorded its second out on Saturday, the doubleheader with Long Beach State already had the look of a long day at the park for the Rainbow Wahine.
After a groundout to lead off the opener at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, the next 13 Long Beach State batters reached base and scored before the Wahine were able to head back to the dugout after a 40-minute top of the first inning.
UH managed to outscore The Beach over the next four innings, but Long Beach State went on to complete a sweep of the conference portion of the Big West series with a 17-9 win in five innings.
The Beach (26-6, 19-2 Big West) put together a four-run first inning — three scoring on second baseman Emily Salazar’s homer — in the nonconference finale and closed the weekend with a 15-3 win.
“Killer,” UH coach Bob Coolen said of the struggles to get out of the opening frame. “Seventeen runs in the first innings and that was the ballgame for both games.”
Long Beach State left fielder Breezy Wise hit two of The Beach’s seven home runs in Friday’s doubleheader sweep and capped the 13-run first inning in Saturday’s opener with a three-run shot to left-center.
The Beach had six hits in the inning and were aided by a hit batter, four walks and three UH errors. Coolen made three pitching changes in the inning and Izzy Dino, who made her season debut on Friday, got the final two outs and went the rest of the way for the Wahine. She also threw the final 21⁄3 innings in the second game and gave up five runs.
“The positive was we got Izzy into the games to see what she’s all about,” Coolen said. “She needs a lot of work, but she’ll add another arm for us on the road.”
UH first baseman Dallas Millwood went 3-for-3 in the first game and launched a grand slam in the fourth inning for the first home run of her Rainbow Wahine career. The Kamehameha graduate who transferred from Nevada added a ground-rule double in the second game.
“Dallas is just one of a kind,” Coolen said. “She kept the whole dugout up all the time. You would think it was a 5-3 ballgame rather than 15-3 the way they compete all the time. That’s all they kept talking about, compete.
“She’s so animated on the field and it’s good for us because she brings a whole different energy and whole different swag. She just had a great attitude and weekend.”
LBSU’s Kellie White had a double-digit lead before throwing her first pitch in the opening game. Samantha Fowler struck out nine in the finale after a 12-strikeout performance on Friday.
UH did end the weekend with a bang against Fowler. Sophomore Cira Bartolotti hit a home run to left with two out in the bottom of the fifth for her first career hit and senior Cheeks Ramos followed with her second home run of the day.
After facing the second-place team in the Big West, the Wahine embark on their final road trip of the season this week to take on league leader Cal State Fullerton starting Friday.
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Game 1
Long Beach State (25-6, 19-2) (13)03 10 — 17 10 1
Hawaii (11-12, 10-7) 111 60 — 9 10 3
Kellie White, Morgan Quinlan (4), Samantha Fowler (5) and Justine Briones. Jetta Nannen, Emily Klee (1), Dominique Martinez (1), Izzy Dino (1) and Ka’ena Keliinoi, Mya’Liah Bethea (3). W—White. L—Nannen.
Leading hitters—Long Beach State: Naomi Hernandez, 2B, RBI; Rylie Seip, HR; Lilyanna Martinez, RBI; Suzy Brookshire, 2-4, 2 RBIs; Breezy Wise, 2-2, HR, 3 RBIs; Emily Salazar, 2-3, 2B, 2 RBIs; Briones, HR, 3 RBIs; Cam Cecil, RBI. Hawaii: Brittnee Rossi, 2B, RBI; Angelique Ramos, HR; Nawai Kaupe, RBI; Lepepaina Matavao, RBI; Dallas Millwood, 3-3, grand slam; Mikaela Gandia-Mak, 2-3; Bree Soma, RBI.
Game 2
Long Beach State (26-6) 406 50 — 15 18 1
Hawaii (11-13) 000 12 — 3 6 1
Samantha Fowler and Ashley Machado. Ashley Murphy, Izzy Dino (3) and Mya’Liah Bethea. W—Fowler. L—Murphy.
Leading hitters—Long Beach State: Naomi Hernandez, 2-2; Sara Olson, 2-2, RBI; Alyssa Gonzalez, RBI; Sinclair Lawhorn, 2 RBIs; Suzy Brookshire, 3-4, 3 RBIs; Breezy Wise, 2-4, 2B, RBI; Emily Salazar, HR, 3 RBIs; Maddy Ruffin, 2B, 2 RBIs; Machado, 2-2. Hawaii: Dallas Millwood, 2B; Bethea, RBI; Cira Bartolotti, HR; Angelique Ramos, 2-3, HR.
