IRVINE, Calif. – No. 21 Hope International softball won game one by mercy rule and fell in extra innings in game two against Westcliff on Friday at the OC Great Park.

The Royals cruised to a 10-1 victory in five innings behind a nine-hit offensive attack which featured five doubles from the lineup. Kaitlyn Maaske won her third game in as many starts. 

HIU battled back from a 4-0 deficit in game two to take 5-4 and 6-5 leads, but could not close out the Warriors as two costly errors in the bottom of the eighth led to its first defeat.

Making her collegiate debut, freshman Chey Navarro hit a three-run homer – the first by any Royal this season – to give HIU the lead late in game two.

#21 Hope International 10, Westcliff 1 (5 innings)

HIU erupted for seven runs in the second inning as a pair of Westcliff errors aided the cause. Vivian Little had a two-RBI double, Lily Hernandez a run-scoring base hit, and Emma McCraw an RBI double in the inning.

McCraw's double was the 196th hit for the senior, who became the school's career leader and unseated Lisa Teberg (195, 2005-08) from the top of the list.

The Royals tacked on three more runs in the third as Aliyah Sandoval and Karlie Bilbrey started with back-to-back doubles, putting runners at second and third. Little provided the third double of the inning to score both runners. Hernandez followed with an RBI single to make it 10-1.

Maaske allowed just one run and three hits in five innings, walking one and striking out six. 

Little finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBI, while Hernandez went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Sandoval and Bilbrey also scored a pair of runs.

Westcliff 7, #21 Hope International 6

Westcliff chased HIU starter Samantha Elizalde after just two-thirds of an inning, scoring four runs on five hits in the first.

Little retired the next 12 hitters to calm the Warrior bats, not yielding a hit until a two-out double in the fifth. She tossed a 1-2-3 sixth as well.

That enabled HIU to climb back into the game. The Royals scored their first run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Jocelyn Aguilar.

But the big inning occurred in the sixth as HIU grabbed the lead with a four-run outburst. Gabriela Holmes led off with a double and eventually came around on Bilbrey's sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 4-1. Amanda Esquivel repopulated the bases with a double and Aguilar singled to put runners at the corners. Navarro, who batted leadoff in the order, cranked a three-run shot over the center field fence to provide the Royals a 5-4 lead.

Westcliff clawed back and tied the score at 5-5 in the seventh. Nadia Carillo drew a leadoff hit by pitch and Alyssa Patlan tripled her home. The Warriors eventually loaded the bases with no outs but Little reared back and set down the next three hitters, including the last two on swinging strikeouts.

HIU scored in the eighth to retake the 6-5 lead as the international tiebreaker rule placed pinch runner Arianna Aguirre on second base. Bilbrey sacrificed her to third and Aguilar drove her in with a sacrifice fly.

The Royals got the first two outs in the bottom half of the eighth, but a pair of errors brought home the tying and winning runs as Westcliff earned the twinbill split.

HIU squares off against No. 1 Southern Oregon on Saturday, with the doubleheader at Bastanchury Park starting at 11:00 a.m.