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HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i softball team (18-22, 5-4 Big West) split Saturday's Big West doubleheader against Long Beach State at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Hawai'i shut out the 49ers, 3-0 then LBSU held off the 'Bows in the series finale, 8-5. UH's Brittany Hitchcock fired a three-hit shutout in the opener while Kanani Aina Cabrales took the loss, throwing just 2.2 innings. Long Beach State (18-22, 5-4 Big West) took the series 2-1 after defeating UH on Friday night, 4-2.
 
Hawai'i 3, Long Beach State 0
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The Rainbow Wahine evened the series at 1-1 with a 3-0 win over Long Beach State. The 'Bows improved to 24-17 and overall and 5-3 in conference while the 49ers fell to 17-22 and 4-4 in the Big West. UH's Brittany Hitchcock fired a complete-game, three-hit shutout. She allowed two walks and tied her career high with six strike outs. Hitchcock improved to 11-6 overall and 2-1 in conference. It was Hitchcock's ninth complete game and fourth shutout of the season.
 
The win snapped the 49ers six-game win streak against the 'Bows dating back to 2013. It was also only the second time this season that Long Beach State was shut out in a game.  
 
Hawai'i put two runners on base in the first two innings, but came away empty both times. However in the third inning, UH took an early 2-0 lead. Kayla Wartner led things with a single to second. Heather Morales then laid down a sacrifice bunt, but the throw hit Morales as she was running down the line to put runners at first and second with no outs. Leisha Li'ili'i then drove a single through the rightside of the infield to drive in Wartner from second base. Sarina Jarmillo executed a sac bunt to push both Morales and pinch runner Chenoa Au into scoring position. After a line out to first, Lindsey Willmon hit a hard grounder to third. On the play the ball ricocheted initially off the third baseman which allowed Morales to score, but the third baseman flipped the ball back to the covering shortstop at third to get Au sliding in for the final out.
 
The 'Bows added another run in the fifth on an RBI double to the left-centerfield gap that drove in Li'ili'i from second. UH led the 49ers 3-0 after five complete innings of play.
 
Long Beach State's Christian Carbajal threw a complete game in the loss. She gave up three runs on nine hits with two strike outs.
 
Carlos went 3-for-4 with a double to lead UH while Li'ili'i was 2-for-3 at the plate.
 
Long Beach State 8, Hawai'i 5
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Hawai'i battled back from an early 4-0 deficit and later brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but the 49ers held off the Rainbow Wahine, 8-5 to take the series 2-1.
 
Long Beach State got back-to-back solo home runs from Darian Tautalafua and Julia Lombardi in the top of the second for an early 2-0 lead. In the third inning, the 49ers rallied with two outs, linking three consecutive hits, culminating in a two-run single by Lauren Lombardi which drove in Leilani Tupua-Tautalatasi and Haley Tobler which extended LBSU's lead to 4-0. Lombardi's hit chased UH starter Kanani Aina-Cabrales and Hitchcock appeared in her second game of the day.
 
Li'ili'i cut UH's deficit in half with a towering, two-run home run into the tennis court over the high-netting in centerfield. With the roundtripper, Li'ili'i tied Wartner with a team high eight home runs this season. It marked her 46^th home run of her career.
 
LBSU got the two runs right back on an RBI double down the leftfield line by Tautalafua and an RBI-single by Julia Lombardi which gave the 49ers a 6-2 lead after four-and-a-half innings.
 
In the sixth, Morales and Li'ili'i led the inning off with two straight singles. After a flyout to center, Rachel Lack launched a three-run bomb over the high-netting in leftfield, cutting LBSU's lead to just one run, 6-5. For Lack, it was her seventh home run of the year and second in the series.
 
But, the 49ers countered in the top of the seventh with a two run home run by Tautafua—her second homer of the game—to give Long Beach State an 8-5 lead.
 
Hawai'i tried to rally in the seventh, but came up just short. Dori-Ann Sugai laced a double into the leftfield corner to start the inning. Then after two outs, Heather Morales got a single through the leftside of the 49er infield to put runners at first and third to bring up UH's clean-up hitter Li'ili'i, but Long Beach State's Christina Clermont got the strike out to thwart the rally and end the game.
 
Morales led UH going 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored. Li'ili'i was 2-for-4 with two RBI on her home run. Sugai went 2-for-3 with a double.
 
Clermont remained perfect in conference with a 5-0 record and improved to 11-6 overall. She fanned a career-high 15 batters while giving up five runs on nine hits with no walks.
 
Aina Cabrales took the loss, evening her record to 12-12 overall and 3-3 in the Big West. She threw two-and-two-thirds innings, allowing four runs on five hits with a strike out. Hitchcock threw four-and-a-third innings to close the game, allowing four runs on six hits with a walk and a strike out.
 
For Hawai'i is was "Power in Pink" day at the ballpark as they wore special pink Under Armour jerseys to support breast cancer awareness.

Hawai'i is in a two-way tie for third with LBSU at 5-4 in conference. CSUN remains undefeated at 8-0 and Cal State Fullerton is 5-3—both CSUN and CSUF finish their series on Sunday against UCSB and UCR respectively. The 'Bows now travel back to California for a three-game series at Cal Poly beginning with a single game on April 17 and a doubleheader on April 18.