IRVINE, Calif. -- Hawai`i Hilo finished last season winning three games in a row against No. 8 Concordia before the series finale was rained out on March 6, 2020.
Little did they know that another Vulcan softball game wouldn’t be played for another year and eight days. However, that long hiatus apparently didn’t ruin Hawai`i Hilo’s momentum. The Vulcans have now won 10 games in a row after starting the 2021 season with a seven-game winning streak.
The tenth win was a 10-7 victory over Hawai`i Pacific.
Alana Alvarez hit a pair of RBI-singels in her first two at-bats to help the Vulcans take an early lead. Leadoff hitter
Kiarra Lincoln scored three times in the victory, and the pitching of
Leah Gonzalez preserved the lead.
Biola overtook the top spot in the SoCal Pod, which contains the three teams in the conference with the most overall wins. Biola swept the home doubleheader and split on the road against Concordia to take a one-game lead over the No. 8 team in the country.
Kayla Neff had a home run, two doubles and four RBIs in the series, while
Paige Austin struck out 18 batters in 14 innings of work with a win and a save.
In the Bay Area, Dominican extended its dominance over the pod by winning three of four games against Holy Names, including two shutout victories.
Kathryn Caravalho threw a four-hit shutout with three strikeouts and just one walk for her sixth win already this season and second of the series.
Vanessa Porto had five hits, two stolen bases and five runs scored for the Penguins.
Weekly awards for the week of March 29-April 4
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Alyssa Ramirez, Dominican
3B, Sr., 5-6 -- Livermore, Calif.
Ramirez hit four doubles in as many games last week to lead Dominican to three wins against Holy Names to strengthen the Penguins’ lead in first place in the NorCal Pod. Ramirez opened the series with a pair of doubles and a walk. She drove in two runs and scored twice in her second game this season with multiple extra-base hits. Ramirez went 3 for 4 in the following game to boost her batting average this season to .364. She drove in two more runs in that win. In the series finale, Ramirez also scored the game-winning run.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Raylene Roybal, Biola
RHP, Fr., 5-3 -- Pico Rivera, Calif.
Royball threw a three-hit shutout on Saturday against No. 8 Concordia to earn Biola’s third-consecutive Pitcher of the Week award. Royball struck out four batters in the 3-0 victory. It was her sixth win of the season, which is one shy of the league leader and teammate
Paige Austin. She has not allowed an earned run in her last 11 innings pitched, bringing her ERA this season down to 2.63. After giving up a leadoff single in the sixth inning, Roybal retired six batters in a row to preserve the shutout.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Rylie Rohr, Concordia
SS, Fr., 5-7 -- Yucca Valley, Calif.
Rohr went 3 for 6 with two RBIs and two runs in the final three games of Concordia’s series against Biola. The freshman hit the game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 2-2. Later in that inning,
Missy Nemeth hit a walk-off three-run home run to give Concordia a 5-2 win. For Rohr, it was her second-career home run with Concordia. She is now batting .270 on the season with two home runs and seven RBIs as the Eagles’ starting shortstop.