San Rafael, CALIF. -- Dominican University of California (8-9, 5-1) took game one of the Wednesday triple header but fell in game two while trailing through seven innings of game three to Hawaii Pacific University (11-18, 6-8). The final inning of game seven was halted to do diminishing sunlight and will be played before the beginning of game one tomorrow, March 23.
GAME ONE
A full team effort gave Dominican an 8-0 win in game one as seven players recorded at least one hit with sophomore
Melissa Garcia recording two.
Melissa Garcia also led the way in the RBI column, tallying two RBI while freshman
Kate Tobola, senior
Lauren Lapinid, sophomore
Alicia Garcia, senior
Shelby Keltner, sophomore
Caitlyn Perales and senior
Kamaleinani Kaleikini also recording RBIs.
Keltner got the party started in the first inning with a single to left field after Tobola took first base on a muffed throw before eventually advancing to third with a steal and sacrifice bunt. Freshman
Annabelle Burke walked on four straight pitches in the next inning to setup a two-out double moment later courtesy of
Melissa Garcia.
Alicia Garcia tallied Dominican's third run in as many innings with a deep solo blast to left field, her first home run of the season after hitting four in her freshman season. Two more Penguin runs were added in the fifth inning via a Kaleikini sacrifice fly and a Lapinid double that brought runners across home plate. The fifth inning was the only frame that Dominican did not add to its lead, but the team made up for that in the sixth inning by putting three more on the board. Seven players saw that batters box in the inning with
Melissa Garcia tallying the first RBI after singling to left with two players on the bases, bringing Kaleikini across home plate. Tobola singled up the middle at the next at-bat to increase the lead to 7-0 before freshman
Jayla Cadena put a bow on the game with one final Dominican RBI.
Keltner recorded the game one win, pitching five innings before Cadena came in for the save. Keltner added seven strikeouts to her PacWest leading total of 90 on the season, allowing no runs and just two hits through her five innings of work. Cadena topped off yet another phenomenal Keltner start with a one-hit effort in one inning of work as Dominican run-ruled the Sharks in game one.
GAME TWO
The runs continued to find the board in game two, this time for both teams as Hawaiii Pacific took game two by a score of 6-5. The Penguins recorded 12 hits in the second game of the midweek triple header with freshman
Taylor Rodriguez,
Melissa Garcia, Perales and Tobola all tallying a pair of knocks. Burke, Garcia, Kaleikini and
Melissa Garcia all recorded RBIs in the game two loss.
A Sharks single in their first at-bat of the game setup an RBI double to left field two batters later to give the away team an early one-run advantage.
Alicia Garcia returned the favor in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double of her own to tie the game after a leadoff single also gave the Penguins a runner on first base after the opening at-bat. Hawaii Pacific struck next three innings later after both team's pitchers took center stage to combine for four scoreless innings before a 2-run homerun put the Sharks up by a pair. The homerun celebration was short-lived as the rain began to pour, a phrase that has become well known for the wrong reasons this season, but this time it rained in the form of four Penguin runs being put on the board in the bottom of the fourth.
Kaleikini was the first to earn an RBI, this time off a double to left after Perales stole second following a one-out single. Abalos was placed on second as a pinch runner for Kaleikini, a move that provided an immediate return on investment when
Melissa Garcia singled up the middle to bring Abalos home from second base. Tobola singled to center to place
Melissa Garcia on second base as the 2-out party continued before Burke decided to be the hostess of the celebration with a double to left field that brought in two more runs, giving Dominican a 5-3 lead. This lead held until the top of the seventh when the Sharks added four runs in their final of work, good enough to secure a 6-5 game two win.
Game three was halted in the top of the seventh due to diminishing sunlight with the Sharks holding a 10-3 lead. This game will resume tomorrow, March 23 in the top of the seventh inning before game four of the series begins immediately after.