HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i softball team (6-6, 0-0 Big West) continues its 27-game homestand with the Coca-Cola Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament which runs from March 3-5 at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.  Seattle U (3-11, 0-0 WAC), Charleston Southern (9-9, 0-0 Big South) and Toledo (2-9, 0-0 MAC) will all be competing in the four-team tourney.
 
Softball head coach Bob Coolen is currently just one win away from capturing his 1,000^th career win. He currently has a 999-647-1 career record in 31 years as a head coach. In his 26 years at Hawai'i, Coolen has a 927-549-1 record.
 
The Rainbow Wahine went 2-3 in this past week's Bank of Hawaii Invitational. UH fell twice to No. 5 Oregon and once to UNLV. But the 'Bows bounced back to win their final two games in the tournament over the Rebels and Montana.
 
Freshman designated player Callee Heen led UH on offense this past week, hitting .417 (5-for-12) with a team-high six runs scored, five hits (tied with Sarah Muzik), two home runs (tied with Heather Morales), a 1.167 slugging percentage and a .563 on-base percentage in the tourney. In the five games, Heen hit for a combined cycle with a single, a double, a triple and two home runs. For the season, Heen is hitting .333 (14-for-40) and leads the team with 14 base hits (tied with Danielle Garcielita), three doubles (tied with Muzik), and three home runs. She also has a team-high .758 slugging percentage and she has scored a team-best eight runs and driven in a team-high 10 runs.
 
Fellow freshman Bree Soma started in four of UH's five games last week and was second on the team with a .364 batting average (4-for-11) with two RBI. Overall through three weeks, Soma leads UH at the plate overall with a .381 batting average (8-for-21). Junior transfer Garcielita is close behind overall hitting .368 (14 –for-38) with five runs scored.
 
In the circle, junior pitcher Brittany Hitchcock has shouldered the bulk of the pitching duties. She has already thrown 49.0 innings and has a 3.43 ERA with a 4-4 record. She has fired six complete games—including two shutouts. Hitchcock has held opponents to a .247 batting average with 12 walks and 39 strikeouts. She finished last week's tournament with a complete game win over Montana, allowing three runs on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
 
With Kanani Aina Cabrales under the weather last week, junior transfer Dana Thomsen stepped up and pitched well in two appearances. Thomsen made her first NCAA DI start against UNLV and earned a complete game win. She stymied the Rebels' offense holding them to just one run on three hits with three walks and nine strikeouts. Overall, she is 1-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 16.0 innings pitched with eight walks and 17 strikeouts.
 
 
Coca-Cola Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament Information
Who: Hawai'i (6-6, 0-0 Big West), Seattle U (3-11, 0-0 WAC); Charleston Southern (9-9, 0-0 Big South); Toledo (2-9, 0-0 MAC)
When: March 3-5, 2017
Where: Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium (1,200) – Honolulu, HI
Promotions: Coca-Cola is the tournament sponsor and will provide fantastic prizes for the winners of the popular "Ballpark Bingo."  
Live stats: Available at HawaiiAthletics.com's softball page.
Admission is FREE at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Coaches: Hawai'i head coach Bob Coolen is in his 26th season and has a 927-549-1 record at UH. He has a career-record of 999-647-1 in 31 seasons. Geoff Hirai is in his second season at Seattle U with a 22-44 record. Toledo's Kristen Butler is in her third season with the Rockets with a 47-74 career record. Charleston Southern's Shane Winkler is in his ninth season with the Buccaneers and has a career record of 226-272.
Series Records: Hawai'i holds a 5-0 record against Seattle. The two teams last met in the 2015 UNLV Desert Classic with UH defeating the Red Hawks, 8-0 in five innings on February 15, 2015. UH has a 3-1 record against Toledo but hasn't played the Rockets since 1996 when the Rockets defeated the 'Bows, 6-2 at the UNLV Softball Classic on February 24, 1996. It is the first meeting with Charleston Southern.

COCA-COLA MALIHINI KIPA ALOHA TOURNAMENT
Friday, March 3, 2017
3:30 pm     Toledo vs. Charleston Southern
6:00 pm     Hawai'i vs. Seattle U

Saturday, March 4, 2017
10:00 am   Seattle U vs. Charleston Southern
12:00 pm   Seattle U vs. Toledo
2:00 pm     Hawai'i vs. Charleston Southern
4:00 pm     Hawai'i vs. Toledo

Sunday, March 5, 2017
10:00 am   GM1: Seed #2 vs. Seed #3
12:00 pm   GM2: Seed #1 vs. Seed #4
2:00 pm     Loser GM1 vs. Loser GM2
4:00 pm     Winner GM1 vs. Winner GM2