HILO, Hawaii – Concluding the Pacific West Conference softball series against the University of Hawaii Hilo, the Lions faced the Vulcans in a solo game on Saturday but could not solve Chloe Sales, who picked up her second win against VU in 24 hours.  The Lions leave the Big Island at 12-26 overall and 7-15 in the PacWest, while UHH improved to 21-19, 15-12.
 
What Happened?  Sales was pitted against Brianna Williams in the circle and programs exchanged leaving two runners left on base over two innings.  UHH got a single and a hit batter in the bottom of the first but Williams got the final two outs from there to bring the offense to the plate.  Mia Hernandez led off the top of the second with a walk and Tiffany Pope got a single after her, but Sales retired the side from there. 
 
Unfortunately, the Vulcans got to Williams in the bottom of the third after a two-out error gave the home side a runner.  A double, a walk, and two singles put UHH ahead 3-0, with Mari Ipatzi spelling Williams.  But a pair of walks brought in one more Vulcan run and the home side put things away in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs on five hits.
 
Tiffany Pope pocketed two singles (2-2) to provide the only hits for the Blue and Gold int the game.  Mia Hernandez had the team's lone walk and Megan Ireland was hit by a pitch, with Vanguard stranding three runners on base in the contest.  VU had one error in the game and UHH scored nine runs on nine hits. Williams dropped to 5-12 and Mari Ipatzi and LeeAnne Miranda finished just shy of one full inning of work.  Miranda led the way with two strikeouts.  Sales improved to 5-4.
 
What's next? The Lions swap islands and head to O'ahu to take on Hawaii Pacific for two games on Tuesday starting at 4:00 p.m.