Hawaii junior Brittany Hitchcock strung seven more zeroes across the scoreboard and a bounce-back performance by the Rainbow Wahine offense fueled a 7-0 win over Harvard on Wednesday to cap the second day of the Hawaii Pacific Health Rainbow Wahine Classic.
A night after being held to two hits in a loss to Connecticut, UH pounded out 14 against the Crimson to back up Hitchcock (9-6), who struck out 10 in her second straight shutout.
“Once Brittany gets that rhythm, we score runs, she starts moving the ball even more than what she already does,” UH first baseman Heather Morales said. “She plays with her pitches a little bit more, but she’s a lot more relaxed and goes straight at them.”
Hitchcock held Harvard (7-5) to four singles in her third shutout in her last five starts and has 21 strikeouts over the past 14 innings.
The five-day tournament continues today with UH (16-10) scheduled to face Purdue at 5 p.m. with a rematch against UConn to follow.
After UConn left-hander Katie Koshes stymied the UH offense on Tuesday, Nicole Lopez went 3-for-4 with two doubles on Wednesday and Morales went 2-for-3 with an opposite-field double on her 22nd birthday.
“Best way to celebrate,” Morales said. “After coming back from last night, I think everybody was a little more hungry knowing we’re facing another lefty pitcher (Harvard starter Kathleen Duncan). I think the first round we struggled a little bit, but just knew we had to go with the outside pitch. We did great jobs making adjustments throughout the game.”
Of UH’s 14 hits, Wahine right-handers sent five to the right side, including back-to-back doubles to the right-center gap by Lopez and Morales in the fifth inning.
“They just need to get up there and be aggressive to the opposite field,” UH coach Bob Coolen said. “Every time we hit the ball oppo tonight we were scoring and we were creating a lot of havoc.”
UH junior Jordian Hicks, who made most of her 10 appearances as a pinch runner and entered the game 0-for-7 this season, got the start in left field and went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs in the ninth spot in the order. Hitting from the left side, she pulled a line-drive double to right-center to drive in Bree Soma with the game’s first run. She added another RBI with a ground out in the fourth then singled and scored in the sixth.
“Tonight was just a bust-out time for her,” Coolen said. “Jordian was a pleasant surprise.”
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Harvard (7-5) 000 000 0 — 0 4 0
Hawaii (16-10) 003 121 x — 7 14 0
Kathleen Duncan, Taylor Cabe (3) and Elizabeth Shively. Brittany Hitchcock and Callee Heen. W—Hitchcock. L—Duncan.
Leading hitters—Hawaii: Danielle Garcielita, 3-4; Sarah Muzik, RBI; Nicole Lopez, 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Heather Morales, 2-3, 2B, RBI; Angelique Ramos, 2-3, RBI; Jordian Hicks, 2-3, 2B, 2 RBIs.
Wednesday
Purdue 8, Marist 6
Purdue 6, UConn 1
Marist 2, UConn 1
Today
Harvard vs. Marist, noon
Harvard vs. Purdue, 2:30 p.m.
Purdue vs. Hawaii, 5 p.m.
UConn vs. Hawaii, 7 p.m.