OUTRIGGER RESORTS SPRING FLING TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

• WHO: Hawai'i (12-4, 0-0 Big West), St. Bonaventure (0-4, 0-0 Atlantic-10), California (11-7, 0-0 PAC-12), Niagara (0-0, 0-0 Metro Atlantic), SIUE (5-5, 0-0 Ohio Valley), Utah (7-12, 0-0 PAC-12)
• WHEN: Wednesday, March 6 - Sunday March 10, 2019
• WHERE: Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium - Honolulu, O'ahu (1,200)
• PROMOTIONS:
  • Outrigger Hotels and Resorts is the sponsor of the Spring Fling Tournament and will provide coral reef-safe sunscreen for the winners of the popular "Ballpark Bingo." Also, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts T-shirts will be thrown into the stands during the fourth inning of every UH game.
• RADIO: This week, only UH's first game vs. St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, March 6 will be aired on ESPN 1420 am. Josh Pacheco will handle the play-by-play duties. Neighbor islands can listen live on KNUI on Maui, KPUA on the Big Island, KTOH on Kaua'i, and KNWJ in Pago Pago, American Samoa.
• AUDIO WEBCAST: ESPN1420am.com/Sideline Hawai'i App.
• LIVESTATS: HawaiiAthletics.com
• TICKET INFORMATION: Admission is FREE

OUTRIGGER RESORTS SPRING FLING TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
3:30 pm California vs. St. Bonaventure
6:00 pm Hawai'i vs. St. Bonaventure
Thursday, March 7, 2019
1:00 pm Niagara vs. St. Bonaventure
3:30 pm California vs. Niagara
6:00 pm Hawai'i vs. California
Friday, March 8, 2019
1:00 pm St. Bonaventure vs. California
3:30 pm Niagara vs. St. Bonaventure
6:00 pm Hawai'i vs. Niagara
Saturday, March 9, 2019
10:00 am St. Bonaventure vs. Utah
12:00 pm Utah vs. Niagara
2:00 pm SIUE vs. California
4:00 pm Hawai'i vs. Niagara
6:00 pm Hawai'i vs. SIUE
Sunday, March 10, 2019
12:00 pm Niagara vs. Utah
2:00 pm Utah vs. SIUE
 

Hawai'i returns to the field after nine days away to host the Outrigger Resorts Spring Fling tournament, which runs from Wednesday, March 6-Sunday March 10. Coming to Honolulu are California, Niagara, St. Bonaventure, SIUE, and Utah. The tournament begins a stretch where UH will host a total of 28 games over a span of 11-straight days. UH itself will play in 12 of those 28 games.

GAME NOTES: 

• The Rainbow Wahine are off to it's best start at 12-4 since the 2012 season when the 'Bows started off with a school-record 21-0 record. UH is in second-place in the Big West standings behind UC Davis who has one more win than the 'Bows at 13-4. Currently, UH has out-scored its opponents, 101-58. In the first inning alone, Hawaii has out-scored their opponents, 32-5. Four of the team's first eight games were won by the mercy-rule. Since the final game of the tournament in Las Vegas however, all eight games from that point have gone the full seven innings. 
• Even after a bye week, Hawai'i is ranked No. 30 in the NCAA DI in runs scored and they are No. 1 in the Big West averaging 6.31 runs per game. In fact, UH currently leads the conference in home runs per game (1.38); slugging percentage (.509), and shockingly…stolen bases per game (0.81). Hawai'I's defense is also ranked No. 1 in turning .56 double plays per game. UH is ranked second in the league in ERA (3.07), doubles per game (1.56); strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.30); and win-loss percentage (.750). For Hawaii, 47 of their 117 total hits have gone for extra bases. 
• Although UH's bats have cooled off after a blistering start through the UNLV tournament, Hawai'i has already launched 22 home runs this season. Last year UH hit a total of 34 for the whole season. In Las Vegas, UH blasted a school and Big West single-game record of eight home runs in a come-from-behind, 16-12 win over Fordham in Las Vegas, Nev. In that game, seven Rainbow Wahine all got a home run with Callee Heen hitting a pair out of the yard. The eight homer broke the previous marck of seven also set by Hawai'i against San Jose State in 2013 at the same UNLV tournament. Thirty-four of UH's 101 runs scored thus far have come from a home run. Nine of UH's 17 position players who have played this season have hit at least one home run. 
• Throughout the start of the season, the one constant has been the solid play of senior third baseman Nicole Lopez both on offense and defense. Lopez, who has started 172 consecutive games at the hot corner, currently leads UH and the Big West Conference with a .455 batting average with a team-high 25 hits, 23 runs scored, seven doubles  and three stolen bases. For her efforts in UH's last tournament, Lopez earned her second-career Big West Field Player of the Week award after hitting .522 with three home runs in seven games. Lopez leads UH with nine multiple hit games and after starting the season on a team-best eight-game hitting streak, she is now up to seven-straight games with a hit. Overall, Lopez's 23 runs scored ranks her at No. 4 in the NCAA and tops in the Big West. She is also No. 1 in the BWC with 25 hits, 1.44 runs per game, and 47 total bases. 
• Right behind Lopez in batting is junior catcher/first baseman Callee Heen who is currently hitting .425 (17-for-40). Heen leads the league and is ranked No. 20 in the nation with six home runs through the first 16 games. She also leads the Big West with walks, drawing 0.81 base-on-balls per games. Heen also leads Hawaii with six multiple-RBI games and she has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games. Overall, she has scored 11 runs while driving in a team-high 15 RBI. She leads UH with a .900 slugging percentage and a .574 on-base percentage and has earned a team-high 13 walks. 
• Leftfielder Tatumn Satow started the first six games of the season, but then sat out the next four games. She made her return to the field against Canisius (2/21/19). In UH's last tourney, she hit .300 (3-for-10) with three walks. She scored four runs as the No. 9 hitter in the lineup with a .465 on-base percentage.
• Freshman pitcher Izzy Dino earned her first Big West Softball Freshman of the Week award of her career after piecing together three superb performances in the pitching circle. Dino tallied a 2-0 record this past week with a sparkling 0.44 ERA in 16.0 innings pitched. She walked just four while striking out 10 in three appearances. Overall, she leads the UH pitching staff with a 2.31 ERA and a 4-1 record in seven appearances. Dino, who already this season has fired a six-inning (mercy rule) no-hitter against St. Mary's (2/9/19) in the first week of action has thrown 36.1 total innings with 10 walks to 18 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .230 batting average. Dino has three complete games under her belt while coming in twice as a reliever.
• Sixth-year senior Brittany Hitchcock also has earned four wins thus far. She currently is 4-3 with a 2.89 ERA  in nine appearances. She has fired a pair of complete-game shutouts with five total complete games thus far. She has made a team-high nine starts and has thrown a team-high 43.2 innings with 33 strikeouts to just 10 walks while holding opponents to a .264 batting average. 
• In four of their wins, UH came from behind or being tied late in the game. Against UT Arlington, UH started out with a 6-0 lead, but the Mavericks chipped away and scored three runs for a 7-6 lead in the top of the seventh. But UH loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh and Brittnee Rossi drilled a double to score two runs for the walk off win, 8-7.
  • Against Fresno State, UH jumped out to a 5-0 lead early. But the Bulldogs also rallied back to tie the game at 5-5 in the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, Callee Heen launched a 2-run home run and then Emily Klee held of FS for the 7-6 win.
  • In Las Vegas against Fordham, UH again burst out to a quick 6-0 lead, only to se it evaporate with the Rams taking 9-8 lead after five  innings. UH retook the lead, scoring seven runs in the last two innings en route to a 16-12 win in which UH blasted a record eight home runs. 
  • In UH's last tourney against New Mexico, the 'Bows found themselves tied at 2-2, but Callee Heen drove in Nicole Lopez with an RBI-single in the fifth for what proved to be the winning run, 3-2.
• Head coach Bob Coolen is currently in his 28th season at the helm of the Rainbow Wahine program with a 985-602-1 record at UH and a 1,057-695-1 overall record in 32 seasons. With the three wins this past weekend, Coolen now needs just 15 wins to hit the 1,000 win mark as the head coach at Hawai'i. Coolen is in his 30th overall year in Hawai'i. He spent his first two seasons here as an assistant coach under then-head coach Rayla Allison.
• UH is celebrating its 35th Anniversary Season this yearThe University of Hawai'i softball program is celebrating its 35th Anniversary Season this year. The Rainbow Wahine got their start in 1985 and has an all-time record of 1,124-793 (.590). During that time, the 'Bows have won six conference titles (BWC: 1994, 2013 / WAC: 2003, '07, '10, '12) and appeared in 11 NCAA tournaments (1994, '95, '98, '99. '01, '03, '07, '08, '10, '12, '13)--all under head coach Bob Coolen. Twice Hawai'i has advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals (2007 - vs. Tennessee and 2010 -vs. Alabama) while punching their onlyl ticket to the Women's College World Series in 2010.