LIHU‘E — One more win and it’s on to the Super Regional. That’s the position the Rainbow Wahine have put themselves in after a 6-3 win over Stanford, Saturday in Stanford, Calif.
LIHU‘E — One more win and it’s on to the Super Regional.
That’s the position the Rainbow Wahine have put themselves in after a 6-3 win over Stanford, Saturday in Stanford, Calif.
Hawai‘i now sits at 2-0 in its double-elimination regional bracket, having already topped UC Davis, 10-2, on Friday. It will take on Texas Tech (2-1) at 10 a.m. today, after the Raiders beat Stanford (1-2) in Saturday afternoon’s game, 6-3, to eliminate the Cardinal.
A win over Texas Tech moves UH on to the Round of 16, facing a best-of-three series. The ‘Bows’ potential and most likely opponent will be the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Alabama. The Tide are 2-0 in the Tuscaloosa region and need a win today over Lipscomb to advance.
Following its season-long pattern, UH (46-13, 19-1 WAC) jumped out to a commanding lead in Saturday’s game as Kelly Majam led off the game with a single, followed by Jessica Iwata reaching on an error, then a walk to Melissa Gonzalez to load the bases.
Jenna Rodriguez was unable to bring a run home on a fly out to right field, but Alexandra Aguirre continued her big postseason with a two-run double to left-center field.
Aguirre had four RBIs in Friday’s win, adding to those totals to give UH the 2-0 lead, Saturday.
Stanford pitcher Ashley Chinn then struck out the next two batters to limit the damage.
The ‘Bows didn’t stay down for long after a scoreless bottom half for Stanford. Catcher Katie Grimes led off with a single and was sacrificed to second base by Traci Yoshikawa. After a Majam strikeout, Iwata singled to left field placing runners at first and third with two outs.
Melissa Gonzalez then delivered what would prove to be the deciding hit, cracking a homer to center field to give UH a 5-0 lead.
In the third, Amanda Tauali‘i hit a solo home run to extend the lead to 6-0.
That would be all the scoring for the ‘Bows as they finished the day with six runs on 10 hits.
Gonzalez was 3 for 3 with three RBIs, all coming on her homer. Iwata, Majam, Rodriguez, Aguirre, Tauali‘i, Grimes and Yoshikawa had one hit apiece.
Pitcher Stephanie Ricketts (26-7) went the full seven innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and striking out one. It was her 27th complete game of the season.
Stanford left fielder Alissa Haber went 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI for the Cardinal.
If Texas Tech should beat Hawai‘i in today’s 10 a.m. game, a second game will be played between the two in order to determine a regional winner.
The game(s) will be broadcast live on ESPN 1420 AM. Live stats can also be found at www.hawaiiathletics.com.
