ROYALS PERFECT THIS WEEK AS THEY SWEEP FIRESTORM

Recaps, photo courtesy of HIU

Fullerton, Ca- The Hope International Royals traveled to Arizona this past weekend to play Ottawa Arizona Spirit on Friday and the Arizona Christian Firestorm on Saturday. After taking home the double header against OUAZ on Friday, the Royals came out against the Firestorm to sweep the weekend. 

The first game of the double header against the Firestorm was a close one. The Firestorm took advantage and scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the 1st. The Royals came right back and scored a run of their own from an RBI single by Drew Moore (SR/Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) in the 2nd. The score was tied up 1-1 after 2. The Royals kept their score going in the top of 3, with an RBI single by Bree Maikai (SR/Oak Hills, CA) and an RBI by Jamie Ponce (SO/Escondido, CA). The Royals took the lead 3-1 and shut down the Firestorm the rest of the game. Taylor Pierce (SR/Norwalk, CA) pitched all 7 innings of the game, keep the Firestorm at just one run and getting 5 strikeouts. 

 

The second game, the Royals wanted to end on a high note. The 1st inning was scoreless for both teams. In the top of the 2nd, Melanie Okazaki (JR/Cerritos, CA) hit a sacrifice fly to score the first run of the game. Maikai brought in two runs, and Anessa Cepeda (SR/Long Beach, CA) hit in one as well. The Royals lead 4-0 keeping the Firestorm scoreless in the bottom of 2. The 3rd inning, the Firestorm brought in 3 runs of their own, making the score 4-3. Top of 4, the Royals got another run on an RBI from Maikai. Royals up 5-3 shutting down the Firestorm the last 4 innings of the game. Top of 5, the Royals gain 3 more runs. Okazaki with one RBI and Maikai with two more. The score was 8-3 Royals after the 5th. The 6th was scoreless, but going into the 7th the Royals scored 2 more runs. Maikai brought in another two runs for her team. The Royals ended 10-3 over the Firestorm.

 

The Royals had a great weekend in Arizona. Coach Dennis Blas said, "I think we played really well overall. We pitched really well all weekend and we hit with runners in scoring position. Really proud of our girls. It is tough to go on the road and sweep 4 games and we did that. It is a Great Day to be a Royal!!!!" 

March 12th Recap

Fullerton, CA - The newly number seven ranked Hope International University Royals faced the Lindenwood University Belleville Lynx in a double header at Bastanchury Park yesterday with the first pitch being thrown at 12:30pm.

Taylor Pierce (SR/Norwalk, CA), this week's GSAC Pitcher of the Week, took the mound for the Royals in Game One. It was scoreless until the second when the Lynx hit a two run homerun. The Royals chased them for an opportunity to tie it up until the fourth inning when Pierce singled a run in to bring the Royals one run within the Lynx' lead 1-2. Very successful defense held the Lynx until the Royals scored two in the seventh inning with an RBI single from Melanie Okazaki (JR/Cerritos, CA) and a sacrifice fly from Jamie Ponce (SO/Escondido, CA). Hope International won game one 3-2.

Game two began shortly after with Jamie Ponce taking the mound first for the Royals. The Royals struck first in game two with Skyler Mao (FR/Buena Park, CA) hitting an RBI single early in the first inning followed by a two RBI single from Mackenzie Kutzke (SR/Los Alamitos, CA). The score was 3-0. The Royals continued the offensive attack in the second with Karen Creech (SO/Alpine, CA) scoring on an error and Bree Maikai (SR/Oak Hills, CA), this week's GSAC Player of the Week, hitting yet another three run homer to give the Royals a 7-0 lead. The Lynx came back with two runs in the third, and the Royals adjusted to tighten up their offense. After five innings Olivia Candelas (FR) came in to relieve Jamie Ponce, and the Royals held the Lynx at two runs for the remainder of the game. The Royals offense wasn't done yet, with Sabrina Canales (SR/Yorba Linda, CA) hitting an RBI double and Olivia Candelas hitting an RBI single to bring the Royals to their final score of 9-2.

Coach Dennis Blas encouraged his team coming off a six game week last week and playing a double header on monday saying "I was very proud after a long road trip how Karen Creech got our bats going with a double, followed by Melanie with a hit and Bree with a hit and then Jamie clutched up and got a hit, came in with a sacrifice fly and thats what you have to do to continue to win games. They're a really high caliber team, their first pitcher was very good. Our energy was a little down today, a little tired, but these are the things you have to do if you are going to become a championship caliber team, you have to play these games to win.

The #7 Royals are on a nine game winning streak putting them at 23-4 overall and 7-1 GSAC. The Royals return to GSAC play with a double header against William Jessup taking place at Bastanchury Park on Friday March 15th at 12:30pm.