The Dixie State College softball team won four and lost two games while in Hawaii, and ended the trip with the final two games being canceled because of the tsunami warning.
The final two games of the road trip were supposed to be a doubleheader against Hawaii Pacific University. A makeup date has not been scheduled, but efforts are being made.
"We're trying to make up those games," head coach Randy Simkins said. "I talked to [HPU's] head coach and we're working with the conference commissioner."
Simkins said if the two games were to be rescheduled they would be played on a neutral site during HPU's mainland road trip, which takes place from March 20-31.
DSC (7-4, 4-2) started the Hawaii road trip in Laie against Brigham Young University-Hawaii (0-12, 0-4).
The Red Storm defeated the Seasiders in all four games the two teams played against one another. The first game only lasted five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule, which ended with the Red Storm winning 11-1. Sophomore third baseman Kelsey Mendenhall doubled to left field to score two runners, which gave DSC the 10-run lead. Freshman pitcher Jessica Tracy closed out the fifth inning with two strikeouts to give sophomore pitcher Lauren Folta the win.
The second game of the doubleheader was an 8-0 win for DSC. Junior pitcher Brittnie Whipple struck out eight batters in six innings to follow up on her no-hitter against Chadron State College. Mendenhall blasted two home runs to aid the Red Storm offense.
Mendenhall continued to hit ferociously against the Seasiders the next day as she hit a two-run home run in the first inning of DSC's 9-0 win in the third game of the series. Junior shortstop Ashley McFarland added a three-run home run. Folta carried the load on defense with nine strikeouts.
Whipple pitched the final game of the BYU-H series without a hit surrendered in four innings of work. She struck out eight batters.
Sophomore outfielder Bailie Hicken had three hits in the game, and went 10-for-14 during the entire series. Hicken also had eight stolen bases during the four-game series.
"Bailie Hickenreally set the tone for us," Simkins said. "She stole bases, and she was on base a lot in general."
The five-game winning streak came to an end on Friday as the HPU Sea Warriors (10-0, 2-0) swept the Red Storm. The two-game series was the teams' first meeting with one another since the Red Storm defeated the Sea Warriors in the NCAA West Region Championship a year ago.
HPU snagged the first game with a 4-2 win as senior pitcher Sherise Musquiz struck out seven DSC batters. Freshman first baseman Anna Cue had two hits for DSC. The Sea Warriors found the chink in Whipple's armor during game two as freshman infielder Caira Pires belted a three-run home run, which gave Whipple her first loss of the season for DSC.
"Our pitchers and defense need some fine tuning," Simkins said. "Our pitchers were behind in the count a lot against HPU."
Mendenhall, a business major from Tooele, said the team needs to keep working hard in practice.
"We can't leave runners on," Mendenhall said. "We need to get those timely hits."
The Red Storm don't return to the field until Tuesday when they travel to La Jolla, Calif., to play a doubleheader against the University of California-San Diego. The team will also play a doubleheader on March 10 against California State University-San Bernardino.
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