BAKERSFIELD, Calif.--The University of Hawai'i softball team (26-15, 9-6 Big West) heads back to California to take on CSU Bakersfield (6-32, 1-14 BW) in a three-game Big West series this weekend. The series begins with a single game on Friday, April 21 at 11:00 A.M. HT followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, April 22 starting at 9:00 A.M. HT. All three games will be played at the Roadrunner Softball Complex in Bakersfield, Calif. 
 

GAMES 42-44 - HAWAI'I (26-15, 9-6 BW) vs. CSU BAKERSFIELD (6-32, 1-14 BW)
Date | Time				Friday, April 7, 2023 | 11:00 A.M. HT Saturday (DH), April 8, 2023 | 9:00 A.M. HT
Location				Roadrunner Softball Complex - Bakersfield, Calif.
Live Stream				ESPN+ - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats				GoRunners.com
Game Notes				Hawai'i (PDF)  |  CSU Bakersfield
Social Media				@HawaiiSB  | #HawaiiSB | @HawaiiSoftball  | Facebook
Tickets				Click Here

HEAD COACH: Bob CoolenOverall record: 1,147-776-1 (37th Season)
At Hawai'i: 1,075-682-1 (32nd Season)
Last week: In Gm.1 vs. UCR, despite hitting three home runs, UH squandered a 6-0 lead giving up three runs in the sixth and six in the seventh to fall to the Highlanders, 9-7 in a heartbreaker. The 'Bows bounced back though, sweeping Saturday's doubleheader. In Game 2, UH gave up a 4-0 lead, then trailed going into the seventh, 4-5 before Izabella Martinez launched her third of four homers this week to tie the game at 5-5 and force extra innings where Maya Nakamura hit a walkoff, sac fly to score Xiao Gin for the win. In the series finale, UH powered past UCR, 7-1with four homers--two by Martinez including a grand slam--and one each by Ka'ena Keliinoi and Mya'Liah Bethea.

CSU BAKERSFIELD (6-32, 1-14 BIG WEST)Series Record: UH is 7-0 vs. CSUB. Earlier this year, UH defeated the 'Runners 14-6 in six innings in UNLV's Desert Classic on Feb. 18. Last year, Hawai'i swept CSU Bakersfield in Honolulu.
Last week: The Roadrunners have lost their last 12-straight games. Last week at Cal Poly, CSUB was swept and outscored a combined 20-1 in runs.
Head Coach: Daniel Sperl (First Season)

NEWS & NOTES• LAST WEEK - UH won the series over UC Riverside, 2-1. The Highlanders scored nine runs in the last two innings to overcome a six-run deficit for the come-from-behin win in the opener. UH bounced back the following day to sweep the doubleheader to win the series. But in the second of three games, UH again gave up a 4-0 lead as UCR rallied to take the lead 5-4 in the seventh. UCR had runners on in every inning until UH reliever McKenna Kostyszyn entered the game after the go-ahead solo HR. Although she gave up a walk and a single, Kostyszyn was able to get out of the inning and returned to retire the Highlanders in order for the first time of the game. In the meantime, UH's Izabella Martinez led the seventh off with a solo home run to centerfield to tie the game at 5-5. Then in the eighth, Xiao Gin led off with an infield single. Ka'ena Keliinoi then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Gin to second, but on the play, no one covered third, so Gin alertly hustled inton third. Maya Nakamura then lifted a sac fly to right to score Gin for the win.
• MARTINEZ MAKES HISTORY - Sophomore catcher Izabella Martinez became the first UH player to ever be tabbed conference Player of the Week. While member of both the Big West and WAC, no UH player ever earned the accolades in sequential weeks--several pitchers have accomplished the feat and different UH players have earned the honor twice in a row, but never the same player. Martinez continued her hot hitting, batting .600 with team highs of six hits, four home runs, and eight RBI as she hit safely in all three games of the series. In the series finale, she hit a pair of home runs--including her first career grandslam which gave her a career-high eight RBI for the game.
    Martinez, who leads the Big West and is ranked 7th in the NCAA DI as the "Toughest to Strike Out" has only been fanned three times this year. Currently Martinez is on an eight-game hitting streak and overall, she leads UH with a .393 batting average, 44 hits, seven doubles 35 RBI, and a .696 slugging percentage. In Big West games, she tops the team with a .487 batting average, 22 hits, six home runs, 16 RBI and a slugging percentage of .913.
• MAKING A RUN FOR IT - The UH offense has out-scored their opponents, 206-to-140 overall this season. The 206 total runs in through 41 games has already 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 seventh and ninth. UH's most productive scoring inning has been the second in which the 'Bows have outscored their foes, 30-to-6.
• THAT BALL SAID ALOOOHA! - After belting nine home runs against UCR, Hawai'i continues to lead the league with 46 home runs which ranks UH No. 29 in the NCAA averaging 1.12 home runs per game. This season, UH has already surpassed their home run total of 36 from last season. It is the most home runs that UH has hit since 2019 team (51) which was led by Callee Heen's 15 in the last full season before COVID-19.
• TURNING TWO - After finishing last season as the best double-play turning team in the NCAA, UH is on the rise again as it regained the top spot in the league averaging .39 DP's per game.
• LEAGUE LEADERS - Individually, UH currently leads the Big West in eight individual statistical categories. Mya'Liah Bethea continues to lead the BW with 11 home runs and a .22 HR/game average, while Martinez's four homers from this past week scoots her up to No. 2 in the league standings. Martinez also is tops in the conference with .85 RBI/game, slugging percentage (.696) and total bases (78). Maya Nakamura has a BW-best .534 on-base percentage, while Ka'ena Keliinoi leads the league with .32 sacrifice bunts per game. Key-Annah Campbell-Pua leads all BW pitchers with the fewest hit batters (2).
• TOUGHEST TO K - Three of the top four batters in the Big West have been the "Toughest to strikeout". Martinez leads the league and is 7th in the NCAA striking out just three times this season. Nakamura is ranked at No. 2 in the BW with five K's and Keliinoi is fourth in the conference with eight strikeouts this season.
• CONSISTENT LINEUP - The first three and fifth spots in UH's batting order have been the same through all 41 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 32 games. Seven Rainbow Wahine have started all 41 games this season—Bartolotti, Bethea, Gin, Keliinoi, Johnson, Martinez, and Nakamura.
• OH MAYA! - Junior second baseman Maya Nakamura has started all 138 UH games during her Rainbow Wahine career. She has started the last 83-straight games at second base. Last year, she led UH with a .331 batting average and she was leading this year's team until a couple of weeks agao. Currently, Nakamura offensively has put up career-best averages with a .368 batting average, a .558 slugging percentage and a .534 on-base percentage. She has been one of the most versatile Rainbow Wahine in history, seeing time in left, center, right, first base, and the last two seasons has started at second base. She has reached base safely in 37 of UH's 41 games. On March 9 vs. Niagara, Nakamura was a double shy of hitting for the cycle while driving in a career-high five runs.
• YOUNG PITCHING STAFF - The Rainbow Wahine pitching staff is led by sophomore Brianna Lopez and freshman Key-Annah 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 13 victories while Campbell-Pua notched her 10th victory at Cal Poly two weeks ago. This past week vs. UC Riverside, McKenna Kostaszyn proved her mettle in crunch time as she tossed the final 1.2 innings for the win over Highlanders.