The Pacific University softball split a doubleheader for the second-straight day with Hawai'i Pacific University in Honolulu on Sunday.
Pacific (6-5) started the day with a 3-2 win in game one, dropping the nightcap by a 5-4 margin.
Game one saw freshman
Carly Bursch pick up her first collegiate win in a complete game effort. Bursch allowed eight hits, two runs (both earned) and struck out two in the win.
Bursch saw Pacific get on the scoreboard in the first inning when
Hailey Miller brought in
Kaitlynn Donaca on a RBI single. Earlier in the inning, with one out, Donaca had doubled for the first hit of the day for the Boxers. Pacific added to its lead, scoring twice in the fourth. After back-to-back singles by
Taylor Nishimura and
Kiana Kushiyama led off the inning, the duo moved to second and third, respectively on a ground out by
Rylee Patton. A combination of smart and alert base running brought in a pair of runs on a
Nicole Martinez fly ball for a sacrifice fly and an errant throw by the Sharks put Pacific ahead 3-0.
Hawai'i Pacific rallied to score a run each in the sixth and seventh to cut into the Pacific lead. With the tying run at second, in the seventh, Bursch got a strike out to end the game.
Pacific had nine hits in the win including two from
Nicole Martinez,
Kaitlynn Donaca and
Hailey Miller.
Game two saw Pacific pound out 10 hits but strand six base runners in the loss and make three errors. Martinez had three hits to lead the Boxers,
Hailey Miller and
Taylor Nishimura each had two.
The two teams each scored twice in the first inning and the Sharks took their first lead on the day when they capitalized on a Pacific error for a 3-2 lead in the third.
The Boxers came back to tie it in the fifth, taking advantage of a Sharks error. After an infield single by Martinez led off the inning for the Boxers, she moved to second on a ground out by Donaca. Then, following a line out by the Boxers, Hawai'i Pacific misplayed a ball hit by Miller to score a hustling Martinez from second to tie the game at 3.
Hawai'I Pacific scored twice in the bottom of the sixth on just one hit to regain the lead by a 5-3 margin. The Boxers started a comeback in the seventh when Martinez led off the inning with a single. She advanced to second on a Donaca ground out. After a pop out, Miller doubled to the gap in right-center field to score Martinez and put the tying run at second. The comeback hopes were dashed on a fly out to end the game.
The Boxers will come back home and be idle next weekend before starting conference play at home, the weekend of March 2 and 3 against Willamette at Sherman-Larkins Stadium. The series starts on Saturday, March 2 with a noon doubleheader.
