(Honolulu, Hawaii - Feb. 14, 2025) - The Trailblazers split day two of action at the Hawaii Spring Fling Tournament on Friday defeating Western Illinois, 9-4 before dropping a hard-fought contest in the nightcap to Hawaii, 3-2 at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
Utah Tech (3-5) totaled 12 hits in the first contest against Western Illinois (2-6) and outhit Hawaii (6-1), 8-3 in the nightcap.
With four extra-base knocks in the first game, the Trailblazers were led by three hits apiece from
Cassidy Hornung and
LB Kahahawai-Kekona along with two hits apiece from
Carly Eldredge and
Gabi Giroux.
Baylee Howley matched her season high with three hits and scored a run against the Rainbow Wahine while five other Trailblazers got one hit apiece, including a double by
Kinley Pappas
In the circle,
Riley Price earned her first career win at Utah Tech against Western Illinois tossing the final six innings allowing only two runs and struck out two.
The second contest saw
Sauren Garton take the loss despite throwing the entire contest going 6.1 innings limiting Hawaii to three hits, three runs (two earned) and five strikeouts.
Western Illinois Recap
Playing as the home team against the Leathernecks, Western Illinois got the scoring started with two runs in the top of the first, but the UT quickly answered back with four runs in the bottom of the inning.
Three straight singles by Hornung, Kahahawai-Kekona and Eldredge loaded the bases for Pappas, who smacked a bases-clearing triple to right to bring home three and came around to score on an RBI single by Giroux.
An RBI single by Eldredge in the second pushed the Trailblazers ahead 5-2, but the Leathernecks cut UT's lead down to 5-4 with two runs in the third.
Continuing to keep the offense strong, three more runs came around in the bottom of the third for the Trailblazers with
Marisa Rubio scoring on a wild pitch, Giroux scoring on a sacrifice fly by
Jayda Gleave and Hornung coming around to score after a fielding error by WIU.
Extending their lead to 9-4 on an RBI single by Kahahawai-Kekona in the fifth, the Leathernecks were able to collect three more hits over the final two innings, but Price kept WIU off the board to preserve the win.
Hawaii Recap
The second contest against Hawaii saw the Trailblazers jump ahead 1-0 in the second with an RBI single to left by Giroux.
With the Rainbow Wahine tying up the game at one in third, it took until the sixth inning for the Trailblazers to jump back ahead as three straight base hits to start the frame were capped by Rubio recording an RBI single to drive in Pappas.
Heading to the bottom of the seventh with a 2-1 lead, the Trailblazers looked to seal the victory, but Hawaii used a leadoff double and fielding error by UT to put runners at second and third with one out.
Pinch-hitter Millie Fidge came through with a two-run RBI single down the left field line to score both runners for the walk-off win.
Up Next
The Trailblazers continue play on Saturday taking on CSU Bakersfield (4-5) at 3:30 p.m. and Sacramento State (6-2) at 6 p.m. at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
