HONOLULU--The University of Hawai'i softball team (24-14, 7-5 Big West) returns home this week to host a three-game conference series against UC Riverside (15-22, 3-6 BW). The two teams will square off in a single game on Friday, April 14 at 6:00 P.M. HT, followed by a Saturday doubleheader on April 15 which begins at 4:00 P.M. HT. 
 

GAMES 39-41 - HAWAI'I (24-14, 7-5 BW) vs. UC RIVERSIDE (15-22, 3-6 BW)
Date | Time				Friday, April 14, 2023  |  6:00 P.M. HT Saturday (DH), April 15, 2023  |  4:00 P.M. HT & 6:00 P.M. HT
Location				Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium (1,200) - Honolulu, O'ahu
Promotions				Great Prizes will be awarded for the winners of the popular "Ballpark Bingo." Also, T-shirts will be thrown into the stands during the fourth inning of every UH game.
Live Stats				Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Game Day Rosters				CLICK HERE
Game Notes				Hawai'i (PDF)  |   UC Riverside
Social Media				@HawaiiSB  | #HawaiiSB | @HawaiiSoftball  | Facebook
Tickets				Admission is FREE

HEAD COACH: Bob CoolenOverall record: 1,145-775-1 (37th Season)
At Hawai'i: 1,073-682-1 (32nd Season)
Last week: UH won their first two games at Cal Poly to win their third Big West series, but the 'Bows fell in the series finale.

UC RIVERSIDE (15-22, 3-6 BIG WEST)Series History: UH, 32-7 record all time vs. the Highlanders
Streak: Last year, UH and UCR split their first two games, but the 'Bows prevailed 7-1 in the series finale to win the series, 2-1
Last week: UC Riverside was swept on the road by UC Davis. But the previous week the Highlanders shutout Cal State Fullerton in the series finale, 3-0 
Head Coach: Nikki Palmer (Seventh Season)

NEWS & NOTES

• LAST WEEK - Hawai'i won their third conference series, 2-1 at Cal Poly. UH won 4-2 on Friday and 5-1 in the doubleheader opener, but the Mustangs came back to shutout the 'Bows 7-0 in the finale.
• • MARTINEZ ON FIRE AT CAL POLY - Sophomore catcher Izabella Martinez was unstoppable last week, hitting .700 (7-for-10) to lead UH en route to earning her first career Big West Field Player of the Week award on Monday.  Martinez twice racked up three hits in both the first and third games of the Cal Poly series. For the series, she hit a double and a home run and led UH with a 1.100 slugging percentage and .727 on-base percentage. On defense, she also threw out two Mustang runners trying to steal second from bedhind the plate. Martinez is the second Rainbow Wahine to be voted Big West Field Player of the Week joining Mya'Liah Bethea (Feb. 20).
  • After this past weekend, Martinez vaulted to the top of UH's overall and Big West conference cume stats. Overall, she is one of three UH players hitting over the .300 mark with a .373 batting average. She has tallied a team-high 38 hits, seven doubles and is second on the team with a .588 slugging percentage and .445 on-base percentage. She is No. 1 in the BW and ranked No. 5 in the NCAA as being the "hardest player to strikeout' having only been fanned three times this season. In conference, she is hitting a team-best .444 (16-for-36).
  • RUN PRODUCTION - The UH offense has out-scored their opponents, 186-to-125 overall this season. The 186 total runs in through 38 games surpassed last year's season total of 171 in 42 games. UH has outscored opponents in every frome of a seven inning game, except the fifth where UH is tied at 21. The biggest discrepancy is in the second inning as the 'Bows have the advantage 27-to-6.
  • THAT BALL SAID ALOOOHA! - Hawai'i continues to lead the Big West and is ranked No. 40 in the NCAA averaging 0.97 home runs per game. This season, UH has hit 37 round-trippers which is one more than UH had all of last season. Hawai'i continues to lead the league with a .452 slugging percentage with 83 of the team's 258 hits have gone for extra bases.
  • INDIVIDUAL BW LEADERS - UH has four different players leading the Big West on offense. Mya-Liah Bethea leads the league with nine home runs and 0.24 homers/game. Maya Nakamura continues to lead with a .538 on-base percentage while Martinez is ranked No. 1 in the league and 8th in the NCAA as "Toughest to Strikeout) (34.0), Nakamura is ranked No. 2 in that same category at 17.2. Ka'ena Keliinoi's 12 sac bunts leads the BW with a .32 sac bunt/game average. Pitcher Brianna Lopez is No. 1 in the league with 12 wins and five shutouts while Key-Annah Campbell-Pua is ranked No. 1 in the BW for fewest hit batters (2).
  • CONSISTENT LINEUP - The first three and fifth spots in UH's batting lineup have been the same through all 38 games thus far with Xiao Gin leading off, Ka'ena Keliinoi batting second, Maya Nakamura hitting third and Izabella Martinez batting in the fifth spot. Since Dallas Millwood's season ending injury in the second week of the season, Hayley Johnson stepped up into batting cleanup with Mya'Liah Bethea hitting sixth. Cira Bartolotti has hit eighth in the last 28 games. Seven Rainbow Wahine have started all 38 games this season—Bartolotti, Bethea, Gin, Keliinoi, Johnson, Martinez, and Nakamura.
  • OH MAYA! - Junior second baseman Maya Nakamura has started all 135 games in her Rainbow Wahine career. She has started the last 80-straight games at second base. Last year, she led UH with a .331 batting average and she was leading this year's team until this past week in average. Currently, Nakamura offensively has put up career-best averages with a .360 batting average, a .570 slugging percentage and a .538 on-base percentage. She has been one of the most versatile Rainbow Wahine in history, seeing time in left, center and rightfield, first base, and the last two seasons has started at second base. She is ranked No. 2 in the league as being the "toughest player to strikeout"  with just five strikeous this season. She has reached base safely in 34 of UH's 38 games. On March 9 vs. Niagara, Nakamura was a double shy of hitting for the cycle while driving in a career-high five runs.
  • JOHNSON CLEANING UP - Sophomore Haley Johnson leads UH with a team-high 32 RBI and she is third on the team hitting .324. In UH's opening game at CSUN, Johnson belted her first career grand-slam while going 3-for-4 at the plate with a career high five RBI. She has started 33 games as the designated player and five at catcher. Johnson's 10 multiple RBI games leads UH and her eight game hitting streak from Feb. 17-26 is the longest for the Rainbow Wahine this season.
  • LEANING ON LOPEZ - Sophomore southpaw Brianna Lopez enters this week leading the league with 12 wins and five shutouts. She currently has a team-best 2.17 ERA in 109.2 innings in 21 appearances. She has fired 11 complete games while striking out exactly double the amount of walks issued, 88 to 44. In the series finale against UC San Diego, she fired her first career no-hitter, walking just one batter while retired the other 21 Tritons. The no-hitter was UH's second of the season as rookie pitcher Key-Annah Campbell-Pua tossed a seven-inning no-hitter against Montana in Las Vegas, Nev. on Feb. 19.
  • CAMBELL-PUA WINS AT HOME - Hawai'i's No. 2 pitcher freshman Key-Annah Campell-Pua earned her 10th victory of the season last week at Cal Poly. The Nipomo, Calif.-native was just about 30-min away from her hometown as she tossed her eighth complete game of the year. She comes into Week 10 with a 2.34 ERA in 15 appearances and 80.2 innings pitched. She has tossed three shutouts with eight complete games while holding opponents to a .219 batting average.  Campbell-Pua has recorded 38 strikeouts and 20 walks. Against Montana during UH's first road trip of 2023, she fired UH's first no-hitter of the season. She has been named BW Freshman of the Week twice (2/20, 3/13) and Pitcher of the Week once (2/20).
  • MEMORABLE HOMECOMING FOR GIN- Junior transfer Xiao Gin has been a valuable asset for the 'Bows this season. Last week, the San Luis Obispo-native opened the Cal Poly series going 2-for-4 with her first home run of her career. She has started all 38 games at shortstop and has hit leadoff in every game as well. She is tied for the team lead with 27 runs scored and is second ont he team with 24 walks. Gin graduated from Oregon State in three years and metriculated to UH to pursue a master's degree in kinesiology while concluding her collegiate career.
  • YOUNG PITCHING STAFF - The Rainbow Wahine pitching staff is led by sophomore Lopez and freshman Campbell-Pua. Lopez and Campbell-Pua are the first UH pitchers since Brittany Hitchcock and Kanani Aina Cabrales in 2015 both have earned double-digit wins in the same season. Lopez comes into Week 10 with a league-best 12 victories while Campbell-Pua notched her 10th win last week at Cal Poly. The rest of the staff that has been used thus far are all underclassmen as well. Millie Fidge and Malia Williams are both freshman while Chloe Borges and transfer McKenna Kostyszyn are just sophomores.