WAIPAHU, Hawai'i – Dominican softball was unable to hold on to a late lead, falling 5-1 Friday night to Chaminade at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park.
Junior infielder
Mady Christensen finished 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Penguins (4-9, 3-9 PacWest), while freshman outfielder
Peyton Mott also went 2-for-4 with a double. Sophomore
Alyssa Waltman got the start and held the Silverswords (9-10, 6-6 PacWest) scoreless through five innings, but gave up three runs in the sixth for the loss.
Malia Moisa powered Chaminade's bats going 2-for-3 with a go-ahead 2-run home run. Madelyn Stockslager earned the victory after holding Dominican to one run on seven hits with six strikeouts.
The first two innings were a pitching duel between the two sides as both were held scoreless and seven runners were left on base.
Alexis Chinchilla started a two-out rally in the top of the third with a hard-hit to short and
Peyton Mott added a double to right field to put two runners in scoring position. Stockslager, however, was able to get out of the jam as a 3-1 pitch was scooped up by Hailey Matsumura at short and thrown over to first for the final out.
After holding the Silverswords scoreless in the bottom of the third,
Haley Cheek singled to center field and
Karitza Reyes followed up with a single to right to start a rally with one out. Cheek moved over to third on a fielder's choice and Christensen singled to center to bring her home and open the scoring. Waltman then retired the side on four pitches in the bottom of the fourth to keep the Penguin momentum going.
After a scoreless fifth, Rainelle Matsuoka singled to lead off for Chaminade and Moisa launched a 2-run home run over the right-field fence on the next at bat to give the Silverswords their first lead of the day at 2-1. Marlisa Berrelleza followed with a solo shot to right field to force a Dominican pitching change. It did not get any better from there for the Penguins as Chaminade loaded the bases as three straight batters were hit by a pitch and it would go on to score two more runs to lead 5-1 heading to the seventh.
Dominican will return to the diamond Saturday to finish its series with Chaminade in a doubleheader beginning at noon HST. Live stats and audio will be available online.
