LIHU‘E — Until the final out was made, the Rainbow Wahine and their fans — a group that has continued to grow since the Women’s College World Series began — still believed the team could pull off the comeback. In
LIHU‘E — Until the final out was made, the Rainbow Wahine and their fans — a group that has continued to grow since the Women’s College World Series began — still believed the team could pull off the comeback.
In the end, it wasn’t to be as the UCLA Bruins handed Hawai‘i a 5-2 defeat, Friday in Oklahoma City.
After Thursday’s seventh-inning home run from Traci Yoshikawa to beat Missouri and Sunday’s walk-off blast from Jenna Rodriguez to knock off Alabama and get to the Series, dramatic come-from-behind wins have become less unlikely and more expected from the Wahine.
This time around, Bruins pitcher Megan Lagenfeld continued to stifle the ‘Bows and got the complete-game victory. Also the team’s top hitter and making just her sixth start of the season, Lagenfeld gave up two runs on just six hits while utilizing a screwball that kept the UH batters off balance.
Lagenfeld entered the game hitting a remarkable .517 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs. She went 2 for 3 with a walk, Friday.
Yoshikawa gave the ‘Bows life in the bottom of the seventh, lining a two-out single into right field to bring two of the team’s award winners into potential hero situations.
Kelly Majam, the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and the nation’s leading home run hitter (30), and Jessica Iwata, the WAC Player of the Year, followed Yoshikawa in the order.
But Lagenfeld never allowed UH to get the tying run to the plate in the form of Iwata, as she set down Majam to send UCLA (47-11) on in the winners’ half of the draw.
The loss sends Hawai‘i (50-15) into the losers’ draw, as the ‘Bows will now face the winner of today’s Arizona-Washington game (8:30 a.m. HT, ESPN2) in an elimination game.
“We’ve played Arizona before, we’ve played Washington before, fortunately, this year,” said Bob Coolen, Hawai‘i head coach. “We know what they’re all about and they know what we’re all about.”
UH will play that game today at 3:30 p.m. HT (ESPN), giving the ‘Bows the luxury of facing an opponent who will be playing its second game of the day.
Samantha Camuso got the scoring started in the top of the second inning, hitting a two-run home run off of Hawai‘i starting pitcher Stephanie Ricketts. Ricketts, who also pitched the ‘Bows’ 3-2 win on Thursday, was taken out in the second inning after facing three batters who all reached base. She was replaced by left-hander Kaia Parnaby.
UCLA made it 3-0 after a Gionna DiSalvatore RBI single in the second. Andrea Harrison hit a solo homer, her third of the Series, as did Julie Burney to make up the five Bruins runs.
Hawai‘i showed its no-quit attitude as Alexandra Aguirre displayed signs of life for the Wahine offense in the bottom of the fourth inning. Aguirre battled with Lagenfeld in an epic at-bat, which neither player wanted to concede. Lagenfeld continued to pound away at the inside corner with her screwball and Aguirre continued to foul off pitch after pitch down the left-field line. She fouled off 14 straight pitches before connecting on the 17th pitch of the at-bat for a two-run home run over the left-field fence, bringing home Rodriguez.
“It was long,” Aguirre said. “It was one of those things where I knew she was coming inside every single pitch so I just had to focus on seeing the ball in front and getting my hands around on it… I trust myself enough with my swing now to react to it and it will go where I want it to go.”
Rodriguez had two hits on the day for UH.
“I believe that we’re going to bounce back after (Friday’s) loss,” Rodriguez said. “We’re just going to put it behind us and come out strong.
Amanda Tauali‘i and Kanani Pu‘u-Warren each went 1 for 3.
The Bruins are just one of two teams remaining without a loss in the World Series, as Tennessee is the other after its 7-5 win over Georgia, Friday.
The growing fan support should be a welcome sight for the ‘Bows, as they have now been away from home since May 10, playing 11 straight games on the road. The teams played in front of a crowd of more than 7,000 — the largest to ever watch a UH game.
