LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i wahine softball team lost its season opener to McNeese State, 2-1, Thursday at the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic in Honolulu. The Rainbow Wahine mustered five hits on the night, with third-baseman Melissa
LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i wahine softball team lost its season opener to McNeese State, 2-1, Thursday at the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic in Honolulu.
The Rainbow Wahine mustered five hits on the night, with third-baseman Melissa Gonzalez going 2 for 2 and Jenna Rodriguez, Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu and Katie Grimes each adding one hit.
The starting shortstop for UH was freshman Jessica Iwata, a 2009 Kaua‘i High School graduate. Iwata went 0 for 3 in her debut.
Stephanie Ricketts pitched a complete game for UH, giving up two earned runs on five hits in seven innings. She had five strikeouts and walked seven.
Meagan Bond was just slightly tougher for McNeese State. The starting pitcher went the full seven innings, striking out 11 Rainbow Wahine and walking just three.
Hawai‘i will play a doubleheader this evening, first taking on Texas A&M-Corpus Cristi at 5 p.m., then battling Stanford at 7 p.m.
That will complete the round-robin action, paving the way for Saturday’s championship tournament, with the final game getting underway at 4 p.m.
Television broadcast will be handled by KFVE-TV. Rebroadcast is set for 10:30 p.m.
