UH-Hilo freshman Alexis Lacy picked up the PacWest pitcher of the week honor Monday and went to work on another.
Lacy delivered 10 seamless innings, but this time even that wasn’t enough.
Dominican pitcher Shelby Keltner was just a little bit better and worked even longer, allowing only one run in 15 innings of work as the Penguins swept the Vulcans, scoring each time in their last at-bat to leave town with a split of their four-game Pacific West Conference series.
Domincan won the second game 4-3, scratching for a run in the seventh on a walk and three singles. The Vuls (10-6, 8-4 PacWest) had tied the game in the fifth on Skylar Thomas’ home run in the fifth inning, but that was the only damage they could do against Keltner (6-11).
The Penguins (10-19, 7-13) won 1-0 in 10 innings in the first game. Keltner struck out seven and in going the distance, and the final two were key. The came with a with the tying runner on third and UHH trying to tie the game.
If it wasn’t for the courtesy runner that started at second to begin each half of the the 10th inning, who knows how long Lacy and Keltner could have put up zeroes.
As good as Lacy was, she finished with just three strikeouts and sorely needed one in the 10th after a sacrifice fly moved the courtesy runner to third. Keltner put the bat on the ball and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly.
Lacy (4-1) allowed just three hits without a walk, and hasn’t given up an earned run in her last five starts, lowering her ERA to 1.09.
UHH managed just three hits in the first game and five in the second game, including Chloe Domingo’s RBI single.
Thomas finished 2 for 3 and scored two runs.
Malia Risdall (0-3), the second of three pitchers, took the loss during relief stint lasting 4 2/3 innings.
UHH hits the road next week, starting with four games at Azusa Pacific.
Baseball
The Vulcans started off their Southern Califronia road trip by getting swept at Concordia, 7-1 and 7-2.
