The Hawaii Pacific University Lady Sea Warrior softball team got clobbered earlier this month. It is an experience they will cherish for the rest of their lives.

The Team USA Softball Women’s National Team, playing their final exhibition game prior to departing for Sydney, Australia, to defend their Olympic gold medal, cruised to an 11-0 victory over the Lady Sea Warriors Sept. 7 at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on the University of Hawai‘i-Manoa campus.

The HPU team members weren’t crying in their towels after the game. They were too busy taking pictures and visiting with some of the best softball players on the planet.

"It was a great honor for our program to be on the same field as the U.S.A. Olympic Team," said head coach Howard Okita. " Not too many NCAA Division II programs got that opportunity. It’s something these girls will always remember."

The meeting between HPU and Team USA grew out of Okita’s long friendship with Team USA Softball Team Leader Ralph Weekly, Jr., who served as assistant coach for the gold-medal-winning 1996 Olympic softball team.

Okita has known Weekly since his Air Force days when the Team USA leader was stationed at Hickam A.F.B. Weekly also coached former NAIA opponent Pacific Lutheran.

"(Weekly) told me the National Team was looking for a few more games while they were in Hawai`i," said Okita. "We were able to work out a game with HPU."

Fall practice for softball doesn’t begin until mid-October, but the HPU softball team was granted an exemption from the NCAA to practice two days prior to the game.

With just a few days to work out the rust, most of the players didn’t even know the names of some of their teammates yet. But Okita said he was proud of the effort his team put forth.

Lady Sea Warrior ace, Jennifer Woodard, who has produced back-to-back seasons with 20 plus wins, got the nod as the starting pitcher.

The HPU junior had realistic expectations about facing the Olympians.

"I wasn’t really nervous out there. I expected them to just hit home runs off me," said Woodard. "My goal was to get a strikeout, and I achieved it."

She also didn’t allow a home run. In fact, Woodard had an impressive outing considering her opponents.

The pitcher gave up three runs in the opening inning, but got her strikeout. She went on to retire the side in the second and third innings, but ran out of gas with one out in the fourth.

"My stamina was short, I haven’t really started to work out yet," said Woodard.

Okita relieved Woodard with freshman Malia Sullivan, who was pitching in high school just a few months ago.

To say that Sullivan will forever remember her first outing as an HPU pitcher is an understatement.

The first batter she faced was Team USA’s Lisa Fernandez, regarded by many as the best all-around softball player in the world.

"It was nerve wracking, but I was also very excited" said Sullivan. "My first collegiate start, and I’m facing Lisa Fernandez, that’s pretty crazy," she added.

Perhaps Team USA was impatient to get back to the beach. It went on to score eight runs in the fourth, and with the score 11-0, the game was called due to the ten-run rule.

Team USA’s Lori Harrigan and Christa Williams pitched a perfect game against the Lady Sea Warriors.

After the game, the fun began. HPU players came out of the dugout and had the chance to meet their softball mentors.

Bats and gloves gave way to cam corders, cameras, and Sharpie pens for autographs.

The HPU players had presented their opponents with shell lies prior to the game, and now they received souvenir booklets and commemorative softballs with the Team USA logo.