Hawaiʻi softball splits doubleheader with Long Beach State

The inspiration is still there.

The University of Hawaiʻi Softball team used Friday night's 2-1 loss to Long Beach State as fuel to the fire and came away with a doubleheader split. They won game one, 8-0, and lost game two, 3-1.

Game #1: 8-0 UH

Long Beach State and Hawaiʻi did not see any runs through the first five innings, but it would all change in the sixth. UH exploded for all eight runs in the final two innings while LBSU did not score a run.

UH got on the board first from a Madixx Muramoto RBI walk that drove in pinch-runner Larissa Goshi. A Cierra Yamamoto RBI single to right field added two more runs from teammates Mya'Liah Bethea and Kaʻena Keliinoi. Yamamoto and Muramoto would score next off an LBSU fielding error with Izabella Martinez at the plate.

Xiao Gin added the next run after a Dallas Millwood RBI walk. Just like that, UH found themselves ahead by a handful, 6-0.

LBSU came up empty when it was their turn, and UH would pull away some more in the seventh.

Bethea and Keliinoi would log the last two runs of the game. Bethea's was off a wild pitch, and Keliinoi's was off a Gin RBI single.

Game #2: 3-1 LBSU

LBSU struck first in game two after that 8-0 shutout. Rebekah Durazo aided in the first run of game two despite being grounded out; Makayla Medellin scored on the play.

UH answered with their first run in the second inning thanks to a Keliinoi sacrifice fly which drove in Haley Johnson. Unfortunately, they would not score again after that.

LBSU ultimately put the game away with two runs scored in the fifth inning. Sinclair Lawhorn used an RBI single to drive in Sara Olson and Medellin for the final arithmetic and gave LBSU the series win, 2-1, over UH.

UH falls to 19-21 overall and remains in fourth place at 12-7 in the Big West standings. A doubleheader sweep would have put them in third place ahead of Cal Poly.

Hawaiʻi will return home for their final homestand of 2024 against the Cal State Fullerton Titans beginning with a 6 p.m. HST contest on Friday, May 3 at Rainbow Wāhine Softball Stadium, followed by a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, May 4. After Saturday's doubleheader, the 'Bows will bid aloha to seniors Kaʻena Keliinoi, Piper Neri, Dallas Millwood, Chloe Agueda, Maya Nakamura, Haley Johnson, McKenna Kostyszyn, Xiao Gin, and Mya'Liah Bethea.