SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Hawai'i Pacific University opened its week-long trip to California by dropping both games of a PacWest Conference doubleheader at Dominican at Penguin Field.
 
The Sharks (12-12, 5-9) fell 7-4 in the opener with the Penguins (13-15, 12-6), then dropped the second game 4-2.
 
Sophomore Dominique Walker of Whittier, Calif./St. Paul had the big afternoon at the plate for HPU, going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored.
 
Freshman Brazzlyn Tovio-Asato of Kapolei, Hawai'i/University Lab collected her fourth home run of the season in the first game, and senior Kayla Sanchez of Corona, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt belted her first homer in the first game as well.
 
The Sharks and Penguins are scheduled to play a second doubleheader on Monday at 10 a.m. HST (1 p.m. PDT).
 
First Game
 
Dominican scored twice in the bottom of the fifth and once in the bottom of the sixth on the way to a 7-4 win in game one.
 
After giving up a run in the Dominican first, the Sharks answered with Tovio-Asato's left field home run in the second and Sanchez' left center homer in the third for a 2-1 lead.
 
But in the bottom of the third, Dominican collected three runs on a bases loaded double by Karitza Reyes to put the Penguins back on top 4-2.
 
The Sharks tied the game in the top of the fifth on a bases loaded walk by pitcher Jordan Curry, and an RBI single by Emiliee Leonard. The Sharks tried to take the lead on Leonard's single, but Walker was gunned down at the plate by the throw of Alyssa Lanza.
 
That spurred on the Penguins in the bottom of the fifth on back-to-back RBI singles by Haley Cheek and McKenzie Schumaker for a 6-4 advantage. DUC added an insurance run with an RBI double by Keely Bowlan in the sixth.
 
Curry (3-5) went the distance in the loss, allowing seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits with one strikeout.
 
Katelyn Harden (9-3) got the win for Dominican allowing four runs on 10 hits with eight strikeouts.
 
Game Two
 
The Sharks battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game with two runs in the fifth inning, but Dominican picked up two runs in the sixth to win 4-2.
 
The Penguins scored in the first inning on a Catlyn Cavender RBI single, then made it a 2-0 lead on Reyes' solo homer in the second.
 
But HPU came back with two runs in the fifth, loading the bases for an RBI walk by Mari Kajiwara followed by an RBI single from pinch hitter Noelani Boyer to knot the game at 2-2.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Penguins tallied one run on a throwing error by Shark catcher Carolann Toyama trying to get Lanza who stole third and came in on the errant throw. Reyes followed with an RBI double and Dominican had the lead again.
 
The Sharks threated in the top of the seventh as Sienna Santiago was hit by a pitch and advanced to second, but was stranded to end the game.
 
Leonard (4-4) was tagged with the loss allowing four runs on six hits with three strikeouts in going the distance.
 
Gaby Katafias (3-7) got the win allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts.