Court sense: Lower campus blog March 8

By Brian McInnis on March 8, 2019 | Court Sense, Featured
Colton Cowell smoked the ball past the Ball State block in Set 2 on Friday night. / Photo by Brian McInnis

It’s another busy day at the UH Manoa lower campus, and another attempt at a live blog from yours truly.

As of this writing, UH softball is underway against Niagara at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. UH baseball throws out the first pitch against Oregon at 6:35 and the second-ranked UH men’s volleyball team takes on No. 15 Ball State in the Stan Sheriff Center at 7 p.m.

Live updates from all three sites below.

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9:31 p.m.: Here’s Cindy Luis’ breaking story on UHMVB and here’s Stephen Tsai’s breaking story on UHBSB.

Autograph seekers swarmed the UH baseball team after a 3-1 loss to Oregon. / Photo by Brian McInnis

9:16 p.m.: Welp, I tried, but I missed the end of baseball. Oregon held on to win, 3-1, after UH was retired 1-2-3 in the ninth. Good crowd at LMS tonight, at least 2,800 through the turnstiles. It was a much quicker one tonight, of course, in part, with no TV and no replays, and volleyball took a bit longer (with TV and with replays, and a more competitive opponent).

9:02 p.m.: It’s still 3-1 Ducks in the top of the ninth over at LMS. Gonna see if I can get over there for the bottom half of the inning. Posting a video interview with Colton Cowell momentarily.

8:50 p.m.: Final: UH (14-0) pulls away for its 14th straight sweep (and per Cindy Luis, the 300th UH wins in the Stan Sheriff Center). 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 over Ball State.

8:43 p.m.: It’s a four-point UH lead again, 19-15. Cardinals burn their final timeout. The fans can sense the free tacos.

8:39 p.m.: Three straight Cardinals points to get within a point and UH burns its first timeout of the set, and second tonight.

8:36 p.m.: ‘Bows have a four-point lead at the technical (TV) timeout of the third set, 15-11.

8:34 p.m.: Wild pitch and passed ball in succession by Poulsen and Oregon tacks on a run on a single to right.

8:32 p.m.: SVT with a block solo. He points for effect. Next point, he puts the ball down emphatically after a nice Gage Worsley dig to his brother Joe. 12-10 ‘Bows, timeout Cardinals.

8:30 p.m.: At LMS, Dylan Thomas’ night is done after six innings. His final line: four hits, two earned runs, four strikeouts and four walks. He also had a wild pitch. Logan Pouelsen inserted in relief in the top of the seventh.

8:29 p.m.: Quick Worsley set to Dalton Solbrig, who punishes it straight down and UH draws even at 7-7.

8:25 p.m.: UH loses this challenge. Ball State up early in the third set, 4-2.

8:23 p.m.: THE RED CHALLENGE PADDLE HAS APPEARED. Sorry, I can’t get enough of that.

8:17 p.m.: Rado Parapunov is up to 15 kills on 20 swings through two sets, still hitting .600. After that, it’s Stijn van Tilburg with six on 16 (.312).

8:13 p.m.: Over at UH baseball, it’s still 2-1 Ducks, now in the middle of the sixth. I’ll see if I can get over there for the finish if this one ends in time.

8:10 p.m.: UH closes out to the second set with panache, 25-19. That’s 41 straight sets, Cindy Luis confirms.

8:05 p.m.: WOW. Great up in the back row. It’s still a shank to Joe Worsley, who slides into it to serve it up to Rado Parapunov for a crushed kill in one swift motion. That was truly impressive. The sequence might’ve been a second and a half. It’s 22-17 and Ball State burns its last timeout of the set.

8:03 p.m.: This one’s still tight at the Sheriff. The lead is only 20-17 and Ball State has called for time. Speaks to how dominant UH as been that a three-point lead this late in a set feels “close.”

7:52 p.m.: Aided in part by some Hawaii hitting errors, Ball State ekes ahead, 11-10 in Set 2. The crowd (probably about 2,000) exhorts their team with a “Let’s Go ‘Bows” chant.

7:47 p.m.: Rado Parapunov, the reigning national player of the week, has 11 kills on 15 swings and two errors (.600 hitting). But Ball State is hanging right with the ‘Bows early in Set 2.

7:44 p.m.: Over at LMS, Dylan Thomas has settled in and has pitched four innings. Ethan Lopez just singled up the middle to score Alex Baeza and UH cuts the deficit to 2-1. Baeza had hit a two-out double.

7:40 p.m.: Just set up at the Stan Sheriff Center. UHMVB jumped out to a big lead on Ball State in Set 1, 10-2, only to have the Cardinals battle back and make it a game. UH prevailed, though, 25-22, to keep its sets streak going.

7:37 p.m.: Softball (14-5) completes its 3-0 win over Niagara. Brittany Hitchcock finishes with a career-high 15 kills on a two-hitter.

7:17 p.m.: UH takes its 3-0 lead to the bottom of the seventh at RWSS. Heading down to the field to catch some Hitchcock action.

7:15 p.m.: Winds have really, really picked up at RWSS, and, I’d assume, LMS.

7:09 p.m.: Make that 14 of 19 batters. Headed to the bottom of the sixth. Meanwhile, UHMVB takes a quick 7-2 lead on Ball State with three kills from Patrick Gasman. You can check out Cindy Luis’ Volleyshots live blog here.

7:03 p.m.: Hitchcock up to 13 strikeouts in 17 batters faced. That’s a new career high. She’s got major swing-and-miss stuff tonight.

7:03 p.m.: Callee Heen nearly pokes it out with the bases loaded but instead fouls out near the right-field pole. Still, Brittany Hitchcock is staked to a 3-0 lead.

7:00 p.m.: UH volleyball about to get underway against Ball State in the SSC. Meanwhile, the softball team has opened up a 3-0 lead and has the bases loaded with two outs.

6:54 p.m.: Niagara switches pitchers, swapping out the tiring Cotton. It’s Jenna Patterson now.

6:52 p.m.: Daylen Calicdan, Thursday night’s hero, singles to left with one out at LMS for UH’s first baseball hit of the night. You could hear the cheers from RWSS. Meanwhile, Victoria Ayala singles to left to score Gandia-Mak and it’s 2-0 Wahine.

6:50 p.m.: Gandia-Mak delivers with a bloop single to left that scores Pantastico. That was … pantastic. 1-0 Rainbow Wahine.

6:48 p.m.: Niagara pitcher Karsen Cotton has been about as good as Hitchcock tonight. She entered the game with a 12.00 ERA in one appearance this season. Meanwhile, though, Sissy Pantastico walked, then stole second base with Mikaela Gandia-Mak pinch hitting with one out.

6:45 p.m.: Oregon has gotten to Dylan Thomas in the top of the first, 2-0, and it’s still going (never mind they just got to the bottom of the first. The Ducks got their first run on a stolen base sequence and added another score on an RBI single to right.

6:44 p.m.: Hitchcock then induces a chopper up the middle for a 6-3 (correction, 1-6-3) double play to get out of the half-inning.

6:42 p.m.: Hitchcock gets her 12th K of the night on a swinging Purple Eagle. The sixth-year senior has matched her career high.

6:40 p.m.: Baseball is underway and ace Dylan Thomas is running into a spot of trouble early. Runners at the corners with one out.

6:38 p.m.: Rain really blowing in now. Both teams’ defense has been on point, though. Scoreless through four innings.

6:36 p.m.: It’s 12. Meanwhile, the winds are picking up again with rain. My screen’s getting wet.

6:34 p.m.: That’s a season high in Ks for Hitchcock. Checking on her career number.

6:31 p.m.: Brittany Hitchcock has struck out 11 of the 13 batters she’s faced through four innings. Wowza.

6:26 p.m.: This softball game’s going pretty fast, mainly due to a paucity of baserunners. UH and Niagara have only managed a hit apiece through three innings.

6:20 p.m.: Meanwhile, Dylan Thomas is getting ready to start for UH baseball in Game 2 of its four-game set against Oregon. The Rainbows can clinch at least a split of the series if they give their ace run support tonight.

6:20 p.m.: The Purple Eagles are making their season debut out here for this tournament, while UH and some other teams have gotten in nearly 20 games. Interesting.

6:19 p.m.: Scoreless game into the bottom of the second inning at RWSS. It’s quite blustery out here. (One of the media tables on the top deck of the stands blew completely over and into the stands itself before I got here.) Hopefully I can stop that from happening again. If not, whoops.

Brittany Hitchcock is in the circle as the UH softball team takes on Niagara looking to bounce back from its 14-0 loss to Cal. / Photo by Brian McInnis

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