WAIPAHU, Hawaii – The first two games of Academy of Art softball's 12-game Hawaii roadtrip saw the ART U split with Chaminade at Central Oahu Regional Park on Saturday. Following a 9-1 win for the Silverswords in the opening contest, the Urban Knights were sparked by junior utility
Dominique Seva'aetasi's first collegiate home run in the third and continuously stayed ahead of multiple CUH comeback attempts, closing out a 6-5 victory to end the day.
GAME 1 – CUH 9, ART U 1 (5)
The Silverswords put together quite the first inning, drawing multiple walks and benefitting from an error early before Rainelle Matsuoka sent a three-run homer to left center. When the dust had settled, Chaminade held an 8-0 lead and starter Madelyn Stockslager (9-13), who hit her spots out of the gate, showed no signs of trouble until the fourth inning.
After sophomore catcher
Lauryn Henderson sent a ground-rule double to left with one out in that frame, freshman utility
Nikki West added a single and senior infielder
Brenna Youngquist walked to load the bases. Though freshman outfielder
Bethany Mitchell popped up, an aggressive attempt to double up Youngquist at first allowed Henderson to score on equally aggressive base-running.
CUH, however, came back with a run on an error in the fifth which effectively ended the game via the run-rule 9-1.
GAME 2 – ART U 6, CUH 5
Like the first contest, Chaminade struck in the opening inning on three consecutive singles, but the lead would not last beyond the second inning as Academy of Art started the third with two singles before Seva'aetasi launched a 2-0 pitch over the fence down the left field line for her first career homer. The two-run shot gave the Knights a 2-1 advantage and the hits kept coming. Youngquist soon delivered a two-run single to right and the lead became 4-1.
The Silverswords answered with back-to-back doubles and a sacrifice fly in the third, but ART U remained on top 4-3. Looking to recreate a cushion, Academy of Art plated one more in the fourth on a run-scoring single from Seva'aetasi, but again Chaminade had a rebuttal in the form of a double in the bottom half of the inning that made it 5-4 Knights.
"Dom is a stoic hitter, she doesn't get rattled, and she stays loose and in her own 'zone,'" said head coach
Alex Gomez. "I think coming to Hawaii means a lot to her because of her family and I know that she went up there wanting to make them proud and definitely did that. I am so excited to have witnessed her first career homer- especially in Hawaii."
Sophomore pitcher
Cecilia Lopez (5-3) was efficient around a double in the fifth and became rewarded in the sixth after Seva'aetasi once again came through by driving in a run on a groundout following junior infielder
Gracie Sotomayor's leadoff single and a steal. The Silverswords got the run back once more in their half of the sixth to make it a 6-5 ballgame, but Lopez and the ART U defense retired Chaminade in order in the seventh to secure the victory.
"The team was not happy with how they came out that way in the first game and knew they were going to have to produce runs in order to be successful," said Gomez. "We focused on scoring runs and making the adjustment at the plate and that's definitely what I saw them doing in that second game."
Remaining above .500 in conference play after the first day of action in Hawaii, ART U moves to 9-10 overall and 5-4 in the PacWest. Seva'aetasi's four runs batted in over four game two at-bats matched her career-high set nearly one year ago on Apr. 4, 2017 ironically also against Chaminade. Henderson continued to wield a hot bat, going 4-for-6 while extending her current hitting streak to seven games. Sotomayor's 3-for-3 performance in the day's finale marked her third three-hit game of the season.
In the circle, Lopez picked up her fifth victory after tossing her third consecutive complete game with three earned runs allowed on 11 hits and no walks plus one strikeout.
Chaminade shifts to 12-29 overall and 9-20 PacWest play. Rainelle Matsuoka and Malia Moisa led the Silverswords offensively, going 6-for-13 with a home run and six RBIs.
The four-game series between Academy of Art and Chaminade concludes with another doubleheader tomorrow back at Central Oahu Regional Park at 2:30 p.m. HT (5:30 p.m. PT).
"The key is going to be staying at our level," said Gomez. "The team has to do whatever it takes to stay in the games and to stay fresh. It's weather that we haven't faced yet, but I think they adjusted well in the second game and will come out strong tomorrow. If we continue to improve our game and mentally, it'll only get better as the roadtrip progresses."
