KANEOHE, Hawai'i — Hawai'i Pacific University closed the 2018 softball season with a 3-0 victory over cross-town rival Chaminade in PacWest Conference play on Saturday at Howard A. Okita Field.
 
The Sharks (22-18, 15-14) and Silverswords (10-33, 6-23) were scheduled to meet in a doubleheader, but the outing was shortened to one game. Continued rain over the last few days forced extra time and work to allow the field to be put in a playable condition so that HPU could play its season finale at Okita Field.
 
The Sharks started their senior day off strong posting a run in the first frame. Senior Sienna Santiago of Ele'ele, Hawai'i/Waimea walked to get on base and advanced to second on a ground out from sophomore Sierra Dias of Mililani, Hawai'i/Bishop Gorman. Santiago was plated by senior Noelani Boyer of Carson, Calif./Banning with a base hit up the middle to put the Sharks up early.
 
The middle innings remained scoreless, before HPU hit the board again in the bottom of the sixth adding two more runs to their lead. Freshman Cieana Curran of Ewa Beach, Hawai'i/Campbell started things off with a double to left center while freshman Mary Dungey of Las Vegas, Nev./Silverado reached on a Chaminade fielding error bringing Curran to third. Senior Gabriella Nowack of San Jose, Calif./Silver Creek walked loading the bases, and senior Kiana Wolfe of Redding, Calif./Enterprise got hit by a pitch to bring in Curran for run number two. Santiago was walked for the second time on the day to bring in Nowack for the third and final run in the shutout.
 
Nowack (5-4) pitched for all seven innings allowing four hits and a walk in her final game as a Shark. She ended the season on a win and totaled just 78 pitches throughout the seven innings.
 
The Silverswords' Devan Dickson pitched the first three innings allowing one earned run on two hits and a walk. She took the loss which brought her to 3-16 on the season. Madelyn Stockslager finished the final three innings allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks.
 
The Sharks were led by Santiago who went one for two on the day with a run scored and an RBI. Boyer went one for three with an RBI, and Curran went one for two with a run scored.
 
Santiago's stolen base in the third inning gave her the school record for career steals as brought her total to 48 in her four years.
 
Boyer also crushed an HPU career record this season. She tallied a total of 28 home runs in her four seasons as a Shark landing her the top spot in the record books. She also grabbed ten home runs this year equaling her own single season HPU record.
 
The victory closed the books for the Sharks in 2018.