HONOLULU, Hawaii -- The Hawaiian road trip concluded for VU softball yesterday but the final game was not what the Lions were hoping for, as Chaminade University of Honolulu won 10-1.  The Lions return home at 16-28 overall and 11-17 in Pacific West Conference play, while CUH improved to 9-39, 8-25.
 
What Happened?  The Blue and Gold could have danced to an early lead as Kamryn Walker led off the game with a triple.  Lilyana Roth then beat out an infield single and soon stole second to put two on with no outs, but three groundouts in a row retired the side.  Brianna Williams had kept the Silverswords at bay in the first game of the series but the home side surprised everyone by tagging Williams for four runs in the bottom of the first on Saturday, using two singles, a double, and a triple to claim a 4-0 lead.  Mari Ipatzi replaced Williams but another triple cleared the bases to put CUH up 6-0 before she could close out the frame.
 
The Silverswords scored twice in the bottom of the third and fourth frames to lead 10-0 and put the mercy rule into play.  The VU bats put one run on the board in the top of the fifth, as Megan Ireland singled and eventually came home off a sacrifice fly by Roth, but with no other runs, Chaminade got the final out to collect a 10-1 decision in five innings.
 
The Silverswords scored 10 runs on 14 hits and left three runners on base.  VU had one run, seven hits, one error, and seven runners left on base.  Williams got one out in the first and was charged five runs.  Ipatzi got the only VU strikeout in the game and Summer Stephens threw the fourth inning for the Blue and Gold.  Roth paced the lineup by going 2-for-2.
 
What's Next?  The Lions get a couple of days to get back on Pacific Standard Time and then host Menlo for four games starting with a brace on Friday that begins at 1:00 p.m.