SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - The Hawaii Pacific University softball team took to the road for the first time in over a month to play a 4-game PacWest conference series against the Dominican University of California Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. 

The Sharks (13-18, 8-8 PacWest) snapped the Penguins' (8-11, 5-3 PacWest) perfect conference record by taking the final three games of the series. Each of their victories saw them come from behind in the final three innings of play. 

Game One

The first game was all Dominican as they scored at least one run in five of the six innings. Hawaii Pacific threatened to put some runs on board in the first and sixth inning, however they were never able to get a run across home plate, falling 8-0 to the Penguins. 

Tiari Hernandez, Tita Saunders, and Kanoe Tanigawa each earned a hit. Tanigawa was exceptionally good at the plate, drawing a pair of walks to go with her hit in her three at-bats. 

Pitcher Gianna Kerschbaum came on in relief and was able to add three strikeouts over her 2+ innings of work. 

Game Two

The Sharks wasted no time finding their first run of the series in the second game. Tiari Hernandez singled up the middle before Brandi Leong laid down a sac bunt to move her 60 feet over. Hernandez came around to score as Tita Saunders cracked a double into the left center gap. 

Dominican saw what Hawaii Pacific did in the top of the frame and copied it over into the bottom half. A single, a sac bunt, and a double by the first three batters would see the game be knotted up at one run a piece. 

A couple of innings passed with no runs. Hailey Yoshida then opened up the fourth inning with a single down the left field line. Savanna Salyer-Kovacs entered the batter's box and took the second pitch she saw over the fence, putting the Sharks back up 3-1. This was her third career home run, her first since February of 2019. 

DUC did not let HPU's lead sit long, finding five hits in the bottom of the fourth to bring four runners across the plate.

Entering the seventh, the Sharks still trailed 5-3. After surrendering a quick first out, Alexis Oshiro drew a walk to bring the tying run up to the plate. Hernandez shot a double toward the right center gap, scoring Oshiro all the way from first. Leong then singled to left field, advancing Jenasis Guerrero, who came in to run for Hernandez, to third.

This brought up Saunders, who already had a three-hit game, to the plate. Lighting struck once again just like it did in the first inning as Saunders smoked the ball down the left field line, scoring Guerrero and Leong to give Hawaii Pacific back the lead at a 6-5 scoreline. 

With the pitching roles reversed for the second game, Taylor Thompson was in as a reliever. The first batter in the bottom of the seventh for Dominican reached on a single up the middle. A seven pitch battle then ensued for the second batter, with Thompson coming out on top, forcing a swinging strikeout. Finally, a ground ball to Jewel Larson turned into a double play to finish the game. 

Saunders was phenomenal from the batter's box, finishing with four hits and three RBIs. Hernandez, Leong, and Oshiro each collected a pair of hits, with Hernandez bringing in a run. Finally, Salyer-Kovacs' long ball plated two runs for the Sharks. 

Thompson redeemed herself in the second game, pitching three shutout innings for the win, striking out two batters in the process. 

Game Three

Once again it was a strong start for the Penguins, jumping ahead 3-0 through the first four innings. On the other hand, the Sharks could only muster up a couple of hits through the four frames. 

That all changed in the top of the fifth. Neva Poulin and Alexis Oshiro got on base, but Hawaii Pacific quickly fell into a two-out hole. However, this is the position they seemed to be the most comfortable in. A walk by Brandi Leong setup game two hero Tita Saunders in a bases-loaded situation. Saunders slapped a single into right field, plating two runs. 

The party did not stop there, as Kanoe Tanigawa and Hailey Yoshida followed up Saunders with a base hit each, those hits resulted in more runs coming across home plate. Another walk by Jewel Larson led to Poulin, who started the inning with a hit, coming back to the batter's box. Poulin shot a single down the right field line to bring in a pair of runs. 

Dominican would switch pitchers, but this did not cool down the offense of Hawaii Pacific. Savanna Salyer-Kovacs found a single to score a run, while Poulin scored on a passed ball three pitches later. Finally, Alexis Oshiro snuck an infield single to score pinch runner Jenasis Guerrero. 

When it was all said it done, the Sharks used 13 at-bats, 12 different players, eight hits, two walks, and a passed ball to put up a nine spot in the top of the fifth, with all runs being scored in a two-outs scenario. 

The hitting fever carried on to the next inning. Saunders singled and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Another single by Tanigawa helped Saunders reach third base. Once again with two outs, Larson found a gap on the right side, scoring Saunders. Tanigawa also attempted to come home, but was tagged out on the throw by Domincan's right fielder. Hawaii Pacific now held a 10-3 lead. 

As the seventh inning was about to begin, the darkness began to fall. With not much light left in the day, it was agreed to halt the third game until the next day.  

Game Three (Cont.) 

With the sun shining on a new day, the seventh inning of game three was played out. Yoshida, who had the start in the circle yesterday, took care of business by retiring all three batters faced in the bottom half of the frame.

Nine Sharks achieved a base hit in the game. Saunders, Tanigawa, Yoshida, Poulin, and Oshiro each came away with two hits. Meanwhile, Saunders and Poulin drove in two runs apiece. 

Yoshida was effective both offensively and defensively, throwing a complete game.  She gave up only one earned run and added a strikeout to her season total. 

Game Four

Applying the two-out theme from the third game, Hawaii Pacific struck first in the fourth matchup. Brandi Leong got a single up the middle, and then stole second base to put herself in scoring position for Tita Saunders. Saunders, as she has done all series long, found a hit to right field to put HPU up 1-0. 

In the circle, Hailey Yoshida was announced as the starter for the final game of the series. Being warmed up from the final inning of game three, she efficiently made her way through the first four innings. Unfortunately, the ball started to slip away from her in the fifth as the Penguins capitalized on two walks by scoring two runs. 

Luckily, Yoshida would get a chance to redeem herself in the following half inning. An error by Domincan's shortstop allowed Leong to reach first base. Two outs later and Leong was 60 feet from tying the game. Yoshida battled to a full count, before ripping the next pitch she saw for a double into the right center gap. 

With the score evened out at 2-2, Hawaii Pacific was poised to retake the lead. Some defensive errors helped the Sharks load the bases with one out to their name. Kaylyn Dosch, who came on as a pinch runner, went on to score the go-ahead run.

With the bases still loaded, Saunders drew a 5-pitch walk to plate another run. A couple of more mishaps in the inning allowed HPU to extend their lead to 7-2. 

Yoshida led the bats with a pair of hits, while Saunders was able to bring home a couple of runs. Leong ran a marathon as she scored three of HPU's seven runs. 

Yoshida went four and two-third innings, giving up one earned run and striking out two batters. Gianna Kerschbaum came on in relief and closed the game out. Kerschbaum only allowed a single hit and struck out three batters. 

The Sharks have a quick turnaround as they get set to play a four game series against the Academy of Art University Urban Knights starting tomorrow, March 24. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. PST at the Mission Blue Field in Brisbane, California. 
 

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