March 15, 2023-After getting rained out on their first day in Hawaii, Emporia State took leads into the seventh inning of both games before Chaminade rallied for a pair of walk off wins on Wednesday in Honolulu. The Hornets fell 4-3 in the matinee and 6-5 in the nightcap.
Game One
Emporia State took the lead in the second inning and held it until Chaminade scored three in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3 walk off win.
The Hornets scored in the top of the second when
Haley Garnett came home from third on a dropped third strike. She had gotten to third thanks to a walk, stolen base and a fielding error by Chaminade that allowed
Roni Raines to reach base. Raines stole second and went to third on the dropped third strike.
McKensy Glass hit a sac fly to drive in Raines and give ESU a 2-0 lead.
A double by Bailey Jacobson followed by a triple from Larchelle Tuifao got the Silverswords on the board in the bottom of the fourth. In the top of the seventh a single, walk and single loaded the bases for the Hornets and
Lexi Williams lofted a sac fly to score
Alexis Dial and push the lead back to two runs at 3-1.
Two walks followed by a double from Taryn Fujioka tied the game at 3-3 with no outs in the bottom of the seventh. Bailey Benson, who had come in to pitch in the top of the seventh, singled through the left side to put runners on the corners. Keaolani Takemura then lofted a sac fly to left that scored Fujioka and give Chaminade the walk off 4-3 win.
Roni Raines was two for three with a run scored.
Jayda VanAckeren pitched the first six innings and to one batter in the seventh, allowing two runs on six hits with three walks.
Josie Harrison took the loss in relief, allowing two runs on two hits with a walk in a third of an inning.
Game Two
Five walks and two errors in the bottom of the seventh cost Emporia State in a 6-5 loss to Chaminade in the second game.
The Hornets scored early again, this time getting three runs in the second inning.
Haley Garnett started things with a walk and went to second on a bunt single by
Ari Cordova.
McKensy Glass followed with a single to right center to drive in Garnett and give ESU a 1-0 lead. With one out
Sophia Rockhold delivered a two run single that scored Glass and Cordova as the Hornets took a 3-0 lead.
Abbey Ward doubled to lead off the third and then stole third.
Roni Raines followed with an RBI double to put the Hornets up 4-0.
Alexis Dial led off the fourth inning with a triple to center field and scored on
Lexi Williams squeeze bunt single to give ESU a 5-0 lead.
It would stay that way until the sixth inning. Taryn Fujioka walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth and with one out stole second. Keaolani Takemura singled to drive in Fujioka and took second on the throw home before ending up at third on a throwing error as the Silverswords got on the board. Takemura would score on a failed pick off attempt to make it 5-2. Chaminade would get two more runners on thanks to a pair of singles before Sidney Righi settled down and got a strikeout and ground out to end the inning.
Abbey Ward doubled with one out in the top of the seventh but would be stranded there as the Hornets took a 5-2 lead into the last frame.
Hannah Norquest relieved Righi to start the inning and walked the first two batters she faced.
Kelly Hipsher replaced her in the circle and walked the next batter to load the bases. Jaeda Cabunoc singled to right center and went to second on a throwing error as two runs scored to make it 5-4 with no outs. Another walk re-loaded the bases before Hipsher got the first out of the inning with a strikeout. Alicia Amaya worked a full count walk to tie the score at 5-5. Hipsher got another strikeout before Bailey Jacobsen re-entered the game to hit and her grounder to second was misplayed allowing the Cabunoc to score and give Chaminade a 6-5 walk off win.
Abbey Ward was two for four with two doubles, a run scored and a stolen bases while
Sophia Rockhold went two for three with two RBI and a triple. Sidney Righi pitched the first 6.0 innings, allowing two runs, only one earned, on six hits with four strikeouts.
Kelly Hipsher pitched the final 0.2 innings and allowed two runs on one hit with three walks and two strikeouts.
The Hornets will wrap up play in Hawaii on Thursday with a double header against Hawaii Pacific. The two games were originally scheduled for Tuesday but were rained out. They will replace another scheduled double header that was supposed to be played against Chaminade.
NOTES:
With two stolen bases on the day
Abbey Ward now has 79 and moved past Caitlin VanVleck (77 SB from 2015-18) for fifth in the Emporia State career stolen base list.
