Hawaii’s Brittany Hitchcock was locked in for the series against UC Riverside and the end result was all “zeroes” on the scoreboard in two games.

Hitchcock, a junior right-hander, pitched a three-hitter with no walks and seven strikeouts as Hawaii beat UC Riverside 5-0 to earn a split of a doubleheader Saturday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

“Just getting ahead of the batters was a big thing I needed to do. Just trusting my pitches and knowing that (our) hitters would come through. I knew we were due for hits,” Hitchcock said.

Danielle Garcielita hit a three-run triple in the fifth and Nicole Lopez homered in the next inning as the Rainbow Wahine moved to 25-15 (4-5 Big West).

The Highlanders (21-17, 3-6) took the opener 3-0 behind a three-hitter by Taylor Misfeldt.

Hitchcock, who threw 84 pitches, didn’t walk a batter for the 10th time this season.

“Brittany had a purpose in that second game,” Hawaii coach Bob Coolen said.

In Friday’s series opener, Hitchcock threw a four-hitter in Hawaii’s 2-0 victory.

In the fifth inning of Saturday’s second game, Garcielita, a junior, stepped to the plate with two outs and lined a 2-0 pitch just inside the first-base line to plate all three runners.

“I just went up there with a plan and my plan was to put the ball on the ground and get a base hit and that turned into something much better than I expected,” Garcielita said.

In the sixth, Lopez belted her team-leading 11th home run of the season and pinch runner Alia Monges scored on a fielding error to make it 5-0.

“That girl left one up on the outside and Nicole sometimes can get around that pitch and corral it and hit that pitch,” Coolen said.

In Saturday’s first game, the Highlanders’ Misfeldt walked one batter and struck out four. Only one Rainbow Wahine baserunner reached second.

“No. 17 manhandled us,” Coolen said.

Hawaii had numerous hard-hit balls, but could only muster singles from Angelique Ramos in the second, Garcielita in the sixth and Laura Jaquez in the seventh. The Highlanders also turned in a bunch of defensive gems.

“We were hitting the ball right at people, but it’s a matter of making adjustments,” Coolen said.

Hawaii’s Kanani Aina Cabrales allowed one run over five innings in relief of Dana Thomsen.

—

GAME 1
>> UC Riverside 101 000 1 — 3 7 0
>> Hawaii 000 000 0 — 0 3 0

Taylor Misfeldt and Jenae Lockwood. Dana Thomsen, Kanani Aina Cabrales (3) and Heather Cameron. W—Misfeldt. L—Thomsen.

Leading hitters—UCR: Jenna Curtan 2-4, 3b; Brittney Garcia 2-3.

GAME 2
>> UC Riverside 000 000 0 — 0 3 3
>> Hawaii 000 032 x — 5 7 0

Anessa Cepeda, Haley Marschall (5), Taylor Misfeldt (6), Rebecca Faulkner (6) and Jenae Lockwood. Brittany Hitchcock and Callee Heen. W—Hitchcock. L—Cepeda.

Leading hitters—Hawaii: Danielle Garcielita 3b, 3 RBIs; Chardonnay Pantastico 2-3; Nicole Lopez HR.