BRISBANE, Calif. - The Hawaii Pacific University softball visited the Academy of Art University for a four game PacWest conference series Friday afternoon at Mission Blue Field.

The Sharks (14-19, 9-9 PacWest) split the first two games with the Urban Knights (4-22, 1-9 PacWest) who earned their first conference victory of the year.

Game One

Hawaii Pacific wasted no time getting into the series. Back-to-back hits by Brandi Leong and Tita Saunders in the top of the first allowed Kanoe Tanigawa to bring in the first run of the game.
Hailey Yoshida followed in suit by hitting a single to third base, scoring Saunders.  

Later on in the fifth, a couple of errors and a stolen base allowed Tiari Hernandez to plate a third run for the Sharks. 

Meanwhile, Taylor Thompson was nearly untouchable through the first five innings, not allowing a single hit. Unfortunately, an error allowed the sixth inning to survive longer than intended. With an extra life, the Urban Knights closed their gap to a one run deficit. 

With a 3-2 lead, HPU entered the seventh inning wanting to add some insurance. Emily Wheat came in to pinch hit and drew a 6-pitch walk. Hernandez then pinch ran for Wheat, stole second, advanced to third on a sac bunt, and scored on a wild pitch.

The Urban Knights did put up a fight, finding a run in the bottom half of the frame. However, Thompson held her ground, securing the third out and the victory for Hawaii Pacific. 

Leong and Saunders led the way with a pair of hits each. Meanwhile, Tanigawa and Yoshida both had one RBI.  

Thompson threw a complete game, allowing one earned run and striking out five batters.

Game Two

It was clear that the Academy of Arts' hitting was starting to heat up near the end of game one. That held true as they used four hits to grab three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

The Sharks did break through in the fourth inning as Brandi Leong laced a triple into the right center gap. Tita Saunders took note and cracked a double towards the left center hole, closing the deficit to 3-1.

Unfortunately, that was the only pressure HPU could apply in the second game. The Urban Knights added one more run in the fifth inning to win the second matchup 4-1.

Leong and Saunders once again snagged a couple of hits. Both of them finished the day with four hits.

Gianna Kerschbaum gave up four runs in her six innings of work. However, she did tie a season best with seven strikeouts on the day.

The Sharks and Urban Knights will wrap up their series tomorrow, March 25. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. PST at Mission Blue Field