The University of Hawaii at Hilo softball team kept its hold on first place in the Pacific West Conference with a doubleheader sweep against BYU-Hawaii Friday on Oahu, winning 10-8 and 8-1.
The Vulcans (35-15 overall, 21-5 PacWest) next host Chaminade (23-17, 15-9) in a noon doubleheader Sunday at their field.
BYUH (5-33, 2-20) gave the Vulcans a scare in Game 1, leading 6-3 after two innings. But UH-Hilo exploded for five runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Emily Greene’s two-run single.
Kristina Victa was 3-for-4 and scored four runs, Rebecca Lee went 3-for-4 and had two RBIs and Brandi Wilson added two RBIs for UH-Hilo.
Tiffanee Frampton whacked a three-run homer in the first inning off UH-Hilo’s Hannah Peterson, who lasted an inning and gave up five runs. Vanessa Salinas then gave up three runs over six innings for the win.
Both teams were a little sloppy defensively. UH-Hilo had four errors, which led to two unearned runs while the Seasiders had six errors, which led to four unearned runs.
In Game 2, Ashley Nelson spun a four-hitter, striking out two and walking one. She also received flawless defense and plenty of offensive support; UH-Hilo banged out 13 hits.
Lee had a productive day. She went 2-for-4 with three RBIs while Green, Spencer, Arren Nunez, Asha Prithviraj had two hits each.
“At this point, it’s good to win,” UH-Hilo coach Jaime Wallin said. “It was a tough week last week, playing 12 games in 12 days and turning around really fast and going to Oahu. It was a challenge, but we were really fortunate to get out of there with a couple of victories.”
The last time UH-Hilo reached the postseason was 2010, the year before Wallin was hired.
“The (West Region) poll comes out next week, but we can help ourselves by simply winning the conference,” she said. “We’ve got six conference games left, and if we win those games we’ll be in the driver’s seat. Hopefully, we can get through it 6-0 and not worry about it.”
