HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i softball team hosts its final pre-season tournament this week with the Hawaii Pacific Health Rainbow Wahine Classic. Coming to Honolulu to compete against Hawai'i in the five-day tourney are UConn (6-10, 0-0 AAC), Harvard (7-3, 0-0 Ivy League), Marist (9-8, 0-0 MAAC), and Purdue (7-17, 0-0 Big Ten). The Classic runs from Tuesday, March 14 – Saturday, March 18 at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
Hawai'i is coming off a busy week in which it posted a 6-1 record with a doubleheader against Toledo followed by the Outrigger Spring Fling Tournament. Reigning Big West Field Player of the Week
Heather Morales led the Rainbow Wahine hitting .524 (11-for-21) with two doubles, three home runs, and six RBI. Overall, the senior first baseman from Indio, Calif. is second on the team with a .343 batting average (23-for-67) with a team-high 17 RBI and five home runs (tied with
Nicole Lopez). Morales also leads the squad with a .612 slugging percentage and has reached base safely in 10-straight games.
Sophomore second baseman
Sarah Muzik leads Hawai'i with a team-high .387 batting average. Muzik also is tops on the team with 29 hits, 12 runs scored (tied with two others) and four stolen bases. Last week she hit an even .500 (9for-18) with five runs scored.
Junior centerfielder and leadoff hitter
Danielle Garcielita is third on the team with a .324 batting average (24-for-74) and is tied with the team lead with 12 runs scored with a .390 on-base percentage.
In the pitching circle,
Brittany Hitchcock and
Dana Thomsen shared the duties last week. Thomsen went 4-0 last week with a 1.06 ERA in 26.1 innings pitched. She fired a pair of shutouts and recorded three complete games. Overall this season, Thomsen is 6-2 with a 1.86 ERA in 56.1 innings with 16 walks to 64 strikeouts. Hitchcock recorded a 2-1 record last week with an ERA of 1.62 with three complete games and a shutout. She held opponents to a .171 batting average with three walks and 22 strikeouts in 22.2 innings pitched. Overall, Hitchcock has recorded an 8-6 record with a 2.38 ERA in 88.1 innings pitched with four shutouts.
Hawaii Pacific Health Rainbow Wahine Classic Information
Teams: Hawai'i (15-9, 0-0 Big West), UConn (6-10, 0-0 AAC), Harvard (7-3, 0-0 Ivy League), Marist (9-8, 0-0 MAAC), Purdue (7-17, 0-0 Big Ten)
Dates: Tuesday, March 14 – Saturday, March 18
Venue: Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium (1,200) – Honolulu, O'ahu
Promotions: Hawaii Pacific Health is the tournament sponsor is the tournament sponsor and will provide trucker hats and healthier gym towels for the winners of the popular "Ballpark Bingo." Also, t-shirts will be thrown into the stands during the fourth inning of each UH game.
Livestats: Live in-game stats are available at the HawaiiAthletics.com softball schedule page
Series History: Hawai'I is 2-0 against UConn but their last meeting came back in 1999 when the Huskies came to the Bank of Hawaii Invitational and fell to the 'Bows, 5-3 on March 19. UH and Harvard have only met once with Hawai'i winning, 5-2 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga on March 4, 2000. With its two wins over the Red Foxes last week, UH is now 4-0 all-time against Marist. This is UH's first meeting against Purdue.
Hawaii Pacific Health Rainbow Wahine Classic Schedule
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
3:30 pm – Harvard vs. UConn
6:00 pm – Hawai'i vs. UConn
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
11:00 am – Marist vs. Purdue
1:30 pm – UConn vs. Purdue
4:00 pm – UConn vs. Marist
6:00 pm – Hawai'i vs. Harvard
Thursday, March 16, 2017
12:00 pm – Harvard vs. Marist
2:30 pm – Harvard vs. Purdue
5:00 pm – Hawai'i vs. Purdue
7:00 pm – Hawai'i vs. UConn
Friday, March 17, 2017
1:00 pm – Purdue vs. Harvard
3:00 pm – UConn vs. Marist
5:00 pm – Hawai'i vs. Harvard
7:00 pm – Hawai'i vs. Marist
Saturday, March 18, 2017
9:00 am – UConn vs. Harvard
11:00 am – Marist vs. Purdue
1:00 pm – Hawai'i vs. Purdue
