HONOLULU – The Nevada softball team fell in both ends of a doubleheader against Hawaii on Saturday night at at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
The Wolf Pack saw a close game break wide open in an 8-1 loss to Hawaii in the first game. In the nightcap, the Pack battled back from a four-run deficit only to come up a run short in a 5-4 decision.
The losses drop Nevada to 10-25 overall and 1-8 in WAC play. Hawaii, the preseason WAC favorite, improved to 28-12 and 6-3.
Seeking to salvage a win in the final game of the series, Nevada got off to a good start, courtesy of Erin Jones. The sophomore third baseman blistered a Stephanie Ricketts’ pitch over the fence in left-center to stake Mallary Darby and the Pack to a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
That lead held up until the fourth when Hawaii got to Darby. Hawaii loaded the bases with two singles and a walk before Darby got a strikeout. But after a single and a walk, Darby was lifted. Ariel Craig yielded a sac fly and another RBI single and when the smoke cleared, the 1-0 lead had turned into a 5-1 deficit.
That score held until the sixth when Nevada started a rally of its own. Freshman Karley Hopkins led off with her WAC-leading 14th double of the season and Caylin Campbell followed with a single. After Danielle Patrick fouled out, the Pack got four consecutive singles from Britton Murdock, Jones, Megan Fincher and Lauren Lastrapes to put three runs on the board and chased Hawaii ace Stephanie Ricketts from the game. But reliever Kaia Parnaby fanned Jayme King and Chelsea Venable and Nevada left the bases loaded.
The Wolf Pack put the tying run on base in the seventh as Campbell walked with one out but the Pack could do more and fell 5-4 in the nightcap.
In game one, Nevada and Hawaii battled and the game was knotted at 1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning after each team scored an unearned run.
In the bottom of the fifth, Darby retired Shannon Lum on a ground ball to open the frame, which made it 10 straight retired by Darby at the time. But Darby then walked the next four batters in a row, leading to Hawaii’s second run of the game as the Rainbow Wahine took a 2-1 lead. Sharla Kliebenstein then broke the game wide open with a grand slam.
Hawaii tacked two more runs on in the sixth and went on to the 8-1 win.
Nevada managed just three hits offensively as Lauren Lastrapes went 1-for-3 with a double while Jayme King and Megan Fincher each had singles.
Darby was strong until she ran into trouble in the fifth and took the loss.
The Wolf Pack will return home to Hixson Park this weekend to play host to New Mexico State. The teams will play a single game on Friday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
