Even after beating No. 22 Hawaii two out of three on the road, the Long Beach State softball team will need the Rainbow Wahine to lose a couple more to win the Big West Conference title.
However, the series win certainly gives The Beach a better chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
The 49ers headed into the series with first-place Hawaii well aware that in order to keep pace in the Big West Title race, they would have to hit ace pitcher Kaia Parnaby hard and knock her out early.
The ‘Niners did just that. LBSU (32-20, 14-7 Big West) managed to take two games from the Rainbow Wahine (38-10, 15-3), and despite outscoring them 29-17, all of it might have been made possible with only one pitch.
A sharply hit line drive in Friday’s 7-4 loss by Darian Tautalafua ricocheted off Parnaby’s glove and diverted toward her face, breaking her nose and forcing her to sit out the rest of the weekend.
“That was really unfortunate for her and for them,” head coach Kim Sowder said. “Anytime any team loses their No. 1 pitcher, it’s going to affect the team. We’ve even seen it with ourselves.”
Like Parnaby, LBSU starter Amanda Hansen also pitched 3.2 innings. Unlike Parnaby, however, Hansen was taken out after an uncharacteristic outing when she allowed seven runs on 10 hits, including four extra base hits. Sowder said Hansen was having trouble controlling her off-speed pitch.
Hawaii was forced to depend on their reserve pitchers for Saturday’s doubleheader while LBSU sent out its less-than-healthy ace, Erin Jones-Wesley. Jones-Wesley dueled as usual, though, pitching 10 consecutive innings and earning two wins in the doubleheader sweep.
“Erin [Jones-Wesley] just came in and took control,” Sowder said. “They were really struggling against her. Erin [Jones-Wesley] was throwing the best that we’ve seen her in a while, so that was nice to see.”
The Beach’s offense shined on Saturday too, collecting 26 hits while knocking in eight homers.
The 49ers saw a 5-1 lead dissipate in the second inning of Saturday’s first game, when Hawaii piled on five additional runs off pitcher Christian Carbajal to take the lead. Back-to-back jacks by Carrasco and Nalani St. Germain put the ‘Niners back on top in the third inning – a lead they held onto en route to a 14-7 victory.
The doubleheader’s backend game saw the ‘Niners take a nearly insurmountable 11-3 lead before the mercy rule ended the game after five innings, giving The Beach the series win.
Hawaii had only lost one conference game all season before Saturday, suffering an 11-3 defeat to Cal State Fullerton two weeks ago. Back then, LBSU was dealing with pitching inconsistencies and working on timely hitting.
“We talked about doing what it takes to win, and we know we’re not going to be perfect, but we’ve got to find a way,” Sowder said. “We did that all day [Saturday]. We didn’t play perfectly, but we obviously overcame a lot with our offense.”
Hawaii will need to continue struggling over their final two series for the ‘Niners to have a chance at the Big West title.
The 49ers will look to take their final conference series of the season with UC Davis on Saturday, with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.