Stranded base runners and sloppy defense were not exactly the last impressions the University of Hawaii at Hilo wanted to leave.
But softball coach Peejay Brun figures the Vulcans split Sunday against Hawaii Pacific won’t do too much damage when the first set of West Regional rankings are released this week.
“I think we’ll be close,” Brun said. “If were not in the top eight, I think we’ll be close.”
The aforementioned afflictions hurt UH-Hilo in an 8-2 loss to the Sharks in Honolulu, halting a six-game winning streak. The Vulcans won the opener 9-1 in a six-inning TKO behind ace right-hander Vanessa Salinas.
UH-Hilo (28-16, 9-5 Pacific West Conference) picked a bad time for what Brun called her team’s worst defensive effort of the season, making three errors in back of Danielle Wilson.
“We were very timid,” said Brun, who felt a few more errors could have been scored.
All three came as Hawaii Pacific (21-17, 11-11) scored four runs in the third inning to take a 7-2 lead.
The Vulcans managed nine hits but never could come through with a big inning against Alexa McCoin, who went the distance, didn’t walk a batter and struck out one.
=We’re still leaving too many runners on,” Brun said.
Wilson (11-7) gave up three triples among her six hits allowed and was pulled after 2 1/3 innings. Half of the six runs charged to her were unearned.
In the first game, Brandi Wilson went 3 for 3 with an RBI single and Amanda Lara sparked a three-run third inning with a double that brought in two runners and finished with three RBIs. That was plenty of support for Salinas (17-6), who scattered seven hits in a complete game and yielded only an unearned run with three walks and five strikeouts. At the plate, the senior produced two hits, driving in a run and scoring once.
Melanie Morelos posted two multihit games, including a run-scoring double in the second contest. Emily Greene and Colleen Aubrey were both 2 for 4 in Game 2, and Aubrey takes a .434 average into the final four regular-season games of season (home doubleheaders against Chaminade on Saturday and HPU on April 25).
“We’re still attacking the ball well,” Brun said.
PacWest front-runners Dixie State (25-1) and California Baptist (22-6) were ranked fourth and 18th, respectively, in the latest national top 25 poll. Whether a third PacWest team garners regional consideration remains to be seen. UH-Hilo sits in third place, 1 1/2 games ahead of Notre Dame de Namur (12-10) and 2 1/2 in front of Academy of Art (12-12).
“It’s really up in the air right now,” Brun said. “Some of it will depend on if teams in other conferences beat each other up.”
PacWest standings
League Overall
W-L W-L
Dixie State 25-1 38-7
Cal Baptist 22-6 35-9
UH-Hilo 16-11 27-17
ND de Namur 12-10 18-25
Academy-Art 12-12 22-24
HPU 11-11 21-17
Azusa Pacific 12-13 24-21
Dominican 9-13 11-24
Chaminade 9-19 10-34
BYU-Hawaii 4-18 8-24
Holy Names 3-21 6-38
