HONOLULU — The University of Hawai‘i softball team (5-0) swept its Saturdaydoubleheader to capture the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic. The ‘Bows first defeated Southern Utah (1-4), 5-1 on a Melissa Gonzalez grand slam, then downed UC Davis (2-3),
HONOLULU — The University of Hawai‘i softball team (5-0) swept its Saturdaydoubleheader to capture the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic.
The ‘Bows first defeated Southern Utah (1-4), 5-1 on a Melissa Gonzalez grand slam, then downed UC Davis (2-3), 8-0 in six innings to win the tournament championship at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on Saturday night, states a release from the UH athletic department.
Hawai‘i 5, Southern Utah 1
The ‘Bows loaded the bases on three straight walks to start the game, but came away with just one run scored off a fielder’s choice hit by Jenna Rodriguez that drove in Kelly Majam from third.
The Thunderbirds responded in the top of the second with a solo home run by Haylee Hoch that sailed over the left field fence to knot the score at 1-1.
The score remained tied at 1-1 through the five innings, but in the sixth inning, UH’s Melissa Gonzalez blasted her first career grand slam to dead center field giving the Rainbow Wahine a 5-1 lead.
Gonzalez went 2 for 2 with a double, a home run, four RBIs and two walks to lead UH on offense.
Kaia Parnaby tossed the complete game, giving up just one run on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. She held the Thunderbirds at bay for most of the game, retiring 11 straight batters between the end of the third through the beginning of the seventh inning.
SUU’s Danielle Axe pitched well through the first five innings until the Gonzalez grand slam. Axe gave up five runs on five hits with 10 walks and four strikeouts.
Hawai‘i 8, UC Davis 0
Stephanie Ricketts had another strong performance in the circle for the third straight day.
Ricketts recorded her second complete-game shutout of the tournament, facing just two batters over the minimum with no walks and eight strikeouts.
No Aggie runner reached second base in the game.
For the tourney, Ricketts gave up just one run in 19.0 innings pitched with a walk and 25 strikeouts and a 0.37 ERA en route to a unanimous choice as Most Valuable Pitcher of the tourney.
Hawai‘i struck first on an RBI double to the right-center field gap by Jessica Iwata to drive in Kelly Majam, who had opened the home half of the first inning with a walk. Later, Iwata scored on a groundout to third hit by Jenna Rodriguez, to give UH an early 2-0 lead.
The ‘Bows added two more runs in the second inning before UCD’s Kasie Cochran came into the game and held UH off the scoreboard for the next three innings before Hawai‘i pulled away with four runs in the sixth to end the game with the eight-run lead.
With two outs in the inning, Sharla Kliebenstein launched her first career home run over the center field fence to drive in pinch runner Dara Pagaduan and Shannon Lum, giving the Rainbow Wahine an 8-0 win with the mercy rule in effect.
UC Davis’ Jessica Thweatt threw the first two innings, giving up four runs on four hits with four walks and two strike outs. Cochran closed the game, tossing the final 3.2 innings. She gave up four runs on three hits with three walks and a strike out.
Ricketts and Majam were voted unanimously Most Valuable Pitcher and Player respectively of the Paradise Classic with four other Rainbow Wahine — Gonzalez, Jasey Jensen, Alex Aguirre and Rodriguez— joining them on the All-Tournament team.
Hawai‘i now has one day off before they face Texas State in a single game on Monday night at 5 p.m. at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
