HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i softball team (7-4, 0-0 Big West) returns home to begin a month-long homestand beginning with the Bank of Hawaii Invitational from Feb. 20-23. The Rainbow Wahine will battle San Jose State (7-3, 0-0 MWC), North Carolina (2-5, 0-0 ACC) and St. Mary's (CA) (4-6, 0-0 WCC) in the four-day tournament at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium this week.
Hawai`i went 4-2 in this past week's Easton Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. The 'Bows battled all week, earning wins over UTEP, Seattle, Portland State, and Utah while falling to No. 2/1 Florida and Nevada. Amongst UH's wins, was an epic comeback against Portland State in which the 'Bows came from 10 runs down in the fifth inning to tie the game at 12-12 on a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth by sophomore third baseman
Alyssa Villalpando. UH then won the game in the bottom of the seventh on a walk-off single by
Sharla Kliebenstein who drove in
Keiki Carlos for the win.
Villalpando leads the team with a .522 batting average, going 12-for-23 at the plate. She cranked out three home runs in Las Vegas and drove in a team-high 11 runs in the six-game tournament. Carlos is second on the squad with a .417 batting average and a team-high 11 runs scored. She has also hit a team-high four doubles. Leisha Li`ili`i is hitting .379 with an overall team-high five home runs and 12 RBI.
In the circle, freshman
Heather Morales is 4-2 with a 3.88 ERA in eight appearances with 22 walks and 23 strike outs in 39.2 innings pitched. Sophomore southpaw
Loie Kesterson is 3-2 with a 5.19 ERA in 31.0 innings pitched.
Scouting the San Jose State Spartans (7-3, 0-0 MWC)
SJSU comes to Hawai'i with a 7-3 record. The Spartans started the season hot, winning their first seven-straight games--including wins over Big West members Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly. But last week in the Littlewood Tournament in Tempe, Ariz., San Jose State lost their last three games in a row to No. 3 Washington, Illinois State, and No. 5 Arizona State.
San Jose State's Jessie Hufstetler leads her team hitting a phenominal .548 (17-for-31) with a team-high 13 runs scored with two home runs and three doubles. Sharon-Rena Estrada is hitting .409 (9-of-22) with two home runs as well while Alyssa Martinez is hitting a solid .357 (10-of-28) with 11 runs scored.
In the circle, SJSU has used six pitchers already this season. Allison Lang has been the workhorse of the squad. She enters the week with a 5-1 record and a 1.25 ERA in 28.0 innings pitched. Madison Fish is 1-1 with a 6.79 ERA in 13.2 innings of work while Katelyn Linford is also 1-1 with a 8.71 ERA in 13.2 innings.
Scouting the St. Mary's Gaels (4-6, 0-0 WCC)
The Gaels come to Honolulu with a 4-6 record getting strong wins over California and South Dakota last week. Brittany Sabatini leads the starters with a .342 average (13-for-38) with six runs scored and a team-high four doubles. ERica Musgrave is hitting .323 (10-for-31) and has scored a team-high seven runs while Cassidy Szeredy is hitting .310 (9-for-29) with five RBI.
Sara Lira and Lujane Mussadi have done the pitching for the Gaels. Lira is 4-2 with a 1.75 ERA in 32.0 innings pitched with 13 walks and eight strike outs. Mussadi is 0-4 with a 4.88 ERA in 37.1 innings pitched.
Scouting the North Carolina Tarheels (2-5, 0-0 ACC)
The Tarheels are coming off a 1-2 performance at the Jacksonville Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. UNC opened the season at Louisiana-Lafayette's Louisiana Classic where they went 1-3 falling twice by one run and to the host team, Louisiana-Lafayette, 5-6 in 10 innings. Elena Covert and Amber Parris are leading UNC both hitting an even .300 batting average (6-for-20). Parrish is tied for the team-lead with two home runs with Jenna Kelly and Kristen Brown.
Lori Spingola has seen the bulk of the action in the circle, with a 2-3 record and a 3.29 ERA in 27.2 innings. She has seven walks to 25 strike outs to lead UNC. Lauren Batten has a team-low 2.10 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched. Kendra Lynch has started two games and made three appearances. She is 0-2 with a 5.25 ERA in 9.0 innings pitched.
Bank of Hawaii Invitational Schedule
Feb. 20 6:00 pm Hawai`i vs. San Jose State
Feb. 21 2:00 pm North Carolina vs. San Jose State
4:00 pm North Carolina vs. St. Mary's
6:00 pm Hawai`i vs. St. Mary's
Feb. 22 12:00 pm San Jose State vs. St. Mary's
2:00 pm Hawai`i vs. North Carolina
4:00 pm Gm.1 - No. 2 Seed vs. No. 3 Seed
6:00 pm Gm.2 - No. 1 Seed vs. No. 4 Seed
Feb. 23 10:00 am Loser Gm. 1 vs. Loser Gm. 2
12:00 pm Winner Gm. 1 vs. Winner Gm. 2
Bank of Hawaii Invitational Notes
Who: Hawai`i (7-4, 0-0 BWC), San Jose State (7-3, 0-0 MWC), North Carolina (2-5, 0-0 ACC), St. Mary's (4-6, 0-0 WCC)
When: Thursday, Feb. 20 – Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014
Where: Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium (1,200) – Honolulu, O`ahu
Live Stats: Live in game stats available at HawaiiAthletics.com
Promotions: Bank of Hawaii is the tournament sponsor this weekend and will provide Bingo prizes and will toss Bank of Hawaii items into the stands at each UH game.
Series history: Hawai'i holds a 71-27 advantage in the series history against San Jose State. Last seaosn, UH defeated the Spartans, 22-3 in five innings at the Easton Desert Classic, on Feb. 15, 2013. Hawai'i and North Carolina are even at 1-1. UNC won 5-1 in their last meeting that came on Mar. 14, 2008 when thay played in the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament in Honolulu. Hawai'is is 10-2 vs. St. Mary's (CA). Last season, the Gaels opened the season in Honolulu to play in the Paradise Classic. UH edged out SMC, 1-0 on Feb. 8, 2013.
Head Coaches: Hawai'i head coach
Bob Coolen is in his 23rd season at UH. He has a 850-472 record at Hawai'i and an overall career record of 922-565. San Jose State head coach Peter Turner is in his eighth season with the Spartans and has a 198-206 record. SMC's Jessica Hanaseth-Rogers is in her ninth season with the Gaels. She has posted a 166-259 school and career record at St. Mary's. Donna J. Papa is in her 29th season as North Carolina's skipper. She has a 1,068-580-5 at UNC and a 1,096-595-5 career record in 31 seasons.
