HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i softball team (25-10, 6-1 Big West) came back to defeat UC Santa Barbara, 4-1 in the series' opener. Reigning Big West Player of the Week, Callee Heen blasted a three-run home run to lift UH over UCSB in the fifth, while senior pitcher Brittany Hitchcock improved to 13-5 overall and 5-0 in conference with a complete-game win on Friday night at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Head coach Bob Coolen is now just two wins shy of reaching the 1,000 win milestone at the University of Hawai'i.
 
Hitchcock gave up one run while scattering six hits. She did not issue a walk and struck out four Gauchos. It marked her third straight game without a walk.
 
The Gauchos posted a run in the top of the third to take an early 1-0 lead on an RBI-single by Sammy Fabian to drive in Kayla Kranz from third.
 
In the top of the fifth, UCSB got two runners on with two outs before a 17-minute rain delay halted play. After the showers subsided, Hitchcock snagged a line drive to snuff out the rally and preserve the one-run deficit. 

Hawai'i was held scoreless through the first four innings, but in the fifth, the 'Bows erupted for all of their four runs. Heather Cameron led off with a walk. After a strikeout, Brittnee Rossi lifted a double to right-centerfield to put both runners into scoring position. Nicole Lopez then hit a hot shot that ricocheted off the third baseman and shortstop which allowed Cameron to tie the score at 1-1. But on the play, the shortstop flipped the ball back to third to erase Rossi trying to advance. Alyssa Sojka kept things going with a single to left to put two runners aboard for Heen who then drove her team-leading and league-leading 12^th home run of the season over the right-centerfield fence. The homer moved Heen up in the UH career record books with 35 career home runs. Heen joins teammate Lopez, Amanda Tauali'i and Sharla Kliebenstein in a four-way tie for No. 6 in UH history. UCSB's starter Felisha Noriega was then lifted for reliever Veronika Gulvin who held UH scoreless for the rest of the game.
 
UCSB starter Noriega gave up four runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. She threw the first 4.2 innings. Gulvin gave up just one hit with a strikeout in 1.1 innings of work.

Coolen, who is in his 28th season at the helm of the Rainbow Wahine softball program, is now at 998-608-1 at UH. Overall, he has a 1,070-701-1 record including his five years at Bentley College.

The same two teams will square off in a series ending doubleheader on Saturday, April 13 beginning at 2:00 p.m. at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.