RENO, Nev. – With the nation’s top home run hitting team in town and the wind blowing out at Hixson Park, the Nevada softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader Saturday.
Hawaii took a 20-0 win in game win and then won 11-2 in game two to conclude the three-game series. With the losses, Nevada fell to 16-23 overall and 3-11 in WAC play. No. 23/25 Hawaii improved to 39-11 and 17-0.
In game two of the doubleheader – the final game of the series – Hawaii jumped out on top early with a home run and a pair of doubles in the first inning. In the second inning, Traci Yoshikawa hit a three-run home run to give the Rainbow Wahine a 5-0 lead. That chased Katie Holverson from the game and Hawaii greeted Mallary Darby with two more runs in the inning as the Rainbow Wahine moved out to a 7-0 lead.
Darby settled in over the next couple innings but the Pack could not get any runs across.
In the fourth, the Pack put runners on second and third after hits by Sam Puzey and Megan Fincher but both runners were left stranded.
Hawaii put the game out of reach with four more runs in the fifth inning, but Nevada did get some runs across in the bottom of the inning.
With two outs, and Chelsea Barilli (walk) on first, Britton Murdock launcher her seventh home run of the season to cut the deficit to 11-2.
Hawaii, which leads the nation in home runs, hit eight home runs in the two games and 10 on the weekend.
In game one of the doubleheader, everything went right for Hawaii and nothing went right for the Wolf Pack.
Hawaii belted 18 hits, including five home runs and took advantage of four Nevada errors en route to a 20-0 victory. The Wolf Pack never got anything going offensively as Stephanie Ricketts threw a five-inning perfect game for the Rainbow Wahine.
