• Iwata walk-off gives UH 19-1 WAC mark • Walk-offs contagious as Van Doornum has winning blast • Men’s tennis into WAC championship Iwata walk-off gives UH 19-1 WAC mark LIHU‘E — Though a perfect conference record was no longer a
• Iwata walk-off gives UH 19-1 WAC mark • Walk-offs contagious as Van Doornum has winning blast • Men’s tennis into WAC championship
Iwata walk-off gives UH 19-1 WAC mark
LIHU‘E — Though a perfect conference record was no longer a possibility, the University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine softball team finished the WAC season in style as Kaua‘i’s Jessica Iwata, freshman shortstop, delivered a walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh to give UH a 5-4 win to close out its regular season.
Needing just one victory to clinch the WAC regular-season championship heading into this final series with Freshno State, the Wahine quickly took care of business with a 5-0 win, Friday night.
Hawai‘i (41-12 19-1) then had its eye on a perfect WAC record, but Fresno State handed UH its first loss with a come-from-behind, 9-7 win in Saturday’s opener. Fresno State, which trailed 6-0 after two innings, scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to overtake the ‘Bows, who could not get anything on the board in the bottom half.
The team rebounded to win the series, getting the walk-off 5-4 victory in the nightcap, as Iwata belted a 1-2 pitch with two outs for her 16th home run of this, her freshman season, over the left-center field fence.
The hit was just Iwata’s second of the day, going 2 for 9 in the doubleheader, putting her season average at .395.
Winning pitcher Stephanie Ricketts improved to 22-6 on the season and a perfect 13-0 in the WAC.
Kelly Majam was 3 for 4 in the game, after going just 1 for 5 in the opener.
Hawai‘i has earned the No. 1 seed in the WAC Championship Tournament, which will take place May 12-15 in Las Cruces, N.M.
Walk-offs contagious as Van Doornum has winning blast
HONOLULU — Highlighted by a two-run, walk-off, home run by Jeffrey Van Doornum in the first game, the University of Hawai‘i Rainbow baseball team (22-21, 5-9 WAC) swept a doubleheader against the Nevada Wolf Pack (23-16-1, 4-5-1), 10-9 and 1-0, at Les Murakami Stadium Saturday, states a UH press release.
Blair Walters (1-1) got the win for UH in the first game while Tyler Graham (2-4) took the loss for the Pack.
Van Doornum finished the game going 3-for-5 with a homer, a stolen base, three RBI and two runs. Pi‘ikea Kitamura was also 3-for-5 with two RBI, two runs and a stolen base, while Greg Garcia was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Kolten Wong completed the game 1-for-3 with one RBI, two runs and two stolen bases.
Men’s tennis into WAC championship
LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i men’s tennis team will be in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament finals for the third straight year after a 4-1 win over Idaho, Saturday afternoon at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center in Fresno, Calif.
The Rainbow Warriors (11-7), two-time defending tournament champions, will seek their third straight title today when they face host and No. 2 seed Fresno State, a 4-2 winner over Boise State in the other semifinal. First serve is at 2 p.m. PT (11 a.m. HT).
Idaho (22-9), the No. 5 seed, defeated Nevada in a first-round match on Friday to face the top-seeded Rainbow Warriors, who earned a bye into the semifinals. It was the team’s second meeting in less than a week. UH defeated the Vandals handily, 5-2, in Honolulu last Sunday to earn a share of the WAC regular-season title.
