HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i softball team (28-16, 11-7 Big West) returns home to host a pivotal, three-game series against Long Beach State (23-20, 13-5 BW). The Big West series will open with a single game on Friday, April 28 at 6:05 p.m. HT, followed by a Saturday doubleheader on April 29 beginning at 2:05 p.m. HT. Currently, the Rainbow Wahine are in third place two games behind the Beach, and three games behind league-leader Cal State Fullerton. Going down the homestretch of the season, Hawai'i will face the top three teams in the league (UH is tied with UC Davis at 11-7).
 

GAMES 45-47 - HAWAI'I (28-16 11-7 BW) vs. LONG BEACH STATE (23-20, 13-5 BW)
Date | Time				Friday, April 28, 2023  |  6:05 P.M. HT Saturday (DH), April 29, 2023  |  2:00 P.M. HT & 4:00 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. • Saturday is "Youth Day."  Youth softball teams will have the opportunity to meet their favorite Rainbow Wahine Softball player and stand with them on the field during the National Anthem. Meet our marketing representatives at the entrance of the Softball stadium at 11:30 a.m. for team check-in. Teams will be given Softball posters to get autographs and take pictures with the team from 11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.. Reminding teams to bring their own markers/sharpies for autographs. • Teams will be asked to report back to the entrance at 1:30 p.m. to be ready to walk on the field for the National Anthem. Marketing will escort the teams on from the first base side gate & meet up with the players for the starting line-ups and National Anthem and Hawai'i Pono'i. Contact Kayleen (kayleenf@hawaii.edu) to register your team.
Television				Spectrum Sports - Ch. 12 [SD] and 1012 [HD] - Scott Robbs (play-by-play), Lori Santi (color analyst)
Live Stream				ESPN+ (Blacked out in Hawai'i) Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Radio				CBS 1500 AM / Sideline Hawaii App - Tiff Wells (play-by-play), Kamalani Dung (color analyst)
Live Audio Stream				cbssportshawaii.com
Live Stats				Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Game Day Rosters				CLICK HERE
Game Notes				Hawai'i (PDF)  |   Long Beach State PDF)
Social Media				@HawaiiSB  | #HawaiiSB | @HawaiiSoftball  | Facebook
Tickets				Admission is FREE

HEAD COACH: Bob CoolenOverall record: 1,149-777-1 (37th Season)
At Hawai'i: 1,077-684-1 (32nd Season)
Last week: Last week Hawai'i won their fifth BW series of the season, downing CSU Bakersfield, 2-1. UH cruised to a 7-1 win to begin the series, but fell in the second game, 8-5. UH held off the Roadrunners, 3-2 in series finale with Brianna Lopez earning the complete game win while Maya Nakamura led UH with a .583 average (7-for-12) for the series. 

LONG BEACH STATE (23-20, 13-5 BIG WEST)Series History: LBSU leads, 70-32
Streak: UH, won 1. 
Last Series: Last years's series opener was a pitcher's duel. Despite allowing just one hit in a complete-game effort, UH & Brianna Lopez lost in a heartbreaker, 1-0. The Beach pulled away from UH in the second game, 7-1, but the 'Bows battled back to win the series finale, 6-5.
Head Coach: Kim Sowder 496-328-1 (17th Season)

NEWS & NOTESLAST WEEK
UH won its fifth BW series of the season, taking it 2-1 at CSU Bakersfield. In the first game, UH started out hot, loading the bases with no outs en route to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The 'Bows never looked back, downing the Roadrunners 7-1. The second game was a back and forth battle that CSUB pulled away in the end for an 8-5 win to tie the series. With Lopez in the circle, UH held off the 'Runners, 3-2 to win the series.

RUN, RUN, RUNAWAY...
The UH offense has out-scored their opponents, 221-to-151 overall this season. The 221 total runs in through 44 games has already surpassed last year's season total of 171 in 42 games. UH has outscored opponents in every frame, except the seventh and ninth. UH's most dominant inning has been the second in which the 'Bows have outscored their foes, 30-to-7.

THAT BALL SAID ALOOOHA!
Hawai'i is averaging a Big West best 1.07 home runs per game which ranks them at No. 34 in the NCAA. As a team UH leads the Big West with 47 home runs--the next team, Cal State Fullerton has 21 home runs for the year. Ten different Rainbow Wahine have belted at least one home run each--including all seven who have started all 44 games this year. UH has already surpassed their home run total of 36 from last season and have the most home runs since 2019 when UH hit 51.

TURNING TWO
After finishing last season atop all NCAA DI teams with 26 double plays, Hawai'i has continued their turning-two prowess this season as they lead the Big West with 17 double plays through 44 games. Shortstop Xiao Gin has been apart of a team-high 13 while fellow middle infielder, second baseman Maya Nakamura has been on 11.

LEAGUE LEADERS
Individually, six different Rainbow Wahine lead the Big West in eight statistical categories.
• Home runs per game: Mya'Liah Bethea - .25 (NCAA-79)
• Home Runs: Mya'Liah Bethea - 11 (NCAA-62)
• On-Base Percentage: Maya Nakamura - .538 (NCAA-14)
• RBI per game: Haley Johnson - .86 (NCAA-05)
• Sacrifice Bunts per game: Ka'ena Keliinoi - .32 (NCAA-4)
• Slugging percentage: Izabella Martinez - .664 (NCAA-109)
• Toughest to Strikeout: Izabella Martinez - .4037 (NCAA-4)
• Victories: Brianna Lopez - 15 (NCAA-42)
As a team, UH leads the Big West in five stats
• Double Plays per Game: .39 (NCAA-48)
• Home Runs per Game: .107 (NCAA-34)
• Scoring: 5.02 (NCAA-73)
• Slugging Percentage: .460 (NCAA-46)
• WL Percentage: .63 (NCAA-63)

TOUGHEST TO K
The top three Big West players who are the toughest to strikeout are all Rainbow Wahine. Izabella Martinez has been fanned just three times in 122 at-bats to lead the league. Second on the Big West list is Maya Nakamura who has struck out five times and Ka'ena Keliinoi is third in the conference rankings with six K's this season.

STEADY LINEUP
The first three and fifth spots in UH's batting order have been the same through all 44 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 the cleanup slot with Mya'Liah Bethea hitting sixth. Cira Bartolotti has hit eighth in the last 35 games. Seven Rainbow Wahine have started all 44 games this season—Bartolotti, Bethea, Gin, Keliinoi, Johnson, Martinez, and Nakamura.

OH MAYA!
Last week, junior second baseman Maya Nakamura hit a team-best .583, leading UH with seven hits, four runs a home run, an .833 slugging percentage and a .583 on-base percentage. She hit safely in all three games to extend her hitting streak to six games--tying her career longest streak. In the second game vs. the 'Runners, she tied her career-high three hits with two runs and two RBI. With her hot-hitting last week, Nakamura leapfrog back to lead UH overall with a .393 average (42-for-107) She also leads UH with a .538 on-base percentage and is tied with Xiao Gin with a team-best 26 walks. Situationally, Nakamura has comethru at the plate, with runners in scoring position she has a team-best .410 average (16-for-39) and with runners on thir and less than two outs, she is hitting .800 (4-for-5). On defense, the smooth-fielding second baseman has been in on 11 of UH's league-high 17 double plays. Nakamura has started all 141 UH games during her Rainbow Wahine career. She and Keliinoi have been two of the most versatile Rainbow Wahine in recent history. Nakamura has seen time in left, center, right, first base, and the last two seasons has started at second base. She has reached base safely in 40 of UH's 44 games this season. On March 9 vs. Niagara, Nakamura was a double shy of hitting for the cycle while driving in a career-high five runs.
 
HISTORY-MAKING MARTINEZ
Two weeks ago, sophomore catcher Izabella Martinez became the first UH player to ever be named conference Player of the Week either in the Big West or the Western Athletic Conference. Against UC Riverside, she hit .600 and the week prior, she hit .700 against Cal Poly. Her combined average between the CP and UCR series was .650 (13-for-20) and she hit five home runs--two in the UCR series finale.
Currently, Martinez is second on the team hitting .385 with a team-best 47 hits in 122 at-bats. She is second on the team with nine home runs and 37 RBI. She leads UH with a .664 slugging percentage. In conference she has been even hotter, hitting .446 with a team-best 25 hits, six home runs and 18 RBI. Martinez is currently on an 11-game hitting streak--the longest of her career and for the team this season.

STARTING PITCHING DUO
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 pitching duo since Brittany Hitchcock and Kanani Aina Cabrales in 2015 to both have earned double-digit wins in the same season. Lopez comes into Week 12 with 15 victories while Campbell-Pua notched her 10th victory at Cal Poly two weeks ago. Both Lopez and Campbell-Pua have also both fired complete-game, seven inning no-hitters. Campbell-Pua's came in Las Vegas, Nev. in UNLV's Desert Classic against Montana (2/19/23), while Lopez's came at home in the series clinching win over UC San Diego (4/1/23).

BETHEA'S BLASTS LEAD THE BW
Junior Mya'Liah Bethea has led the league and the team all season in home runs. Currently she has 11 home runs--which is more than five other Big West teams combined. Currently, the utitliy player from Las Vegas is hitting a career-best .252 (31-for-123) took over after first base after Millwood's season-ending injury. Bethea has started 37 games at first base and seven in left field. In year's past, she has also seen time at catcher and right.  The right-handed hitting left-handed thrower had a team-long streak of 14 games in which she reached base safely.

CLUTCH JOHNSON
Sophomore Haley Johnson has driven in a league-best 38 RBI. The lefty that has started 39 games as designated player and five at catcher has recorded a team-best 12 multiple-RBI games, doubling the total for the next two Rainbow Wahine Rachel Sabourin and Martinez with six apiece. In UH's opener at CSUN (3/24/23), Johnson tied her career-high going 3-for-4 with a career-best five RBI--four of which came off her first career grand slam in the first inning.

LOPEZ LEADING THE WAY
UH starting left-handed pitcher Brianna Lopez's two wins last week at CSU Bakersfield, tied her win total from last year with 15 victories. She enters the week with eight losses. She has fired 14 complete games in 24 starts with five shutouts. She has held opponents to a .233 batting average with 52 walks to 115 strikeouts in 137.0 innings pitched.

CAMPBELL-PUA READY TO REBOOT
Pitcher Key-Annah Campbell-Pua enters Week 12 with a 10-5 overall record while going 3-2 in conference games. She is looking to get back on track after not earning a decision in the last two games. Overall, she has appeared in 17 games with 15 starts. Campbell-Pua has tossed 15 complete games including three shutouts. She has held opponents to a .220 batting avergae in 89.1 innings pitched. She has walked 25 while strkiking out 42.

KOSTYSZYN FIRST FROM PEN
Sophomore transfer McKenna Kostyszyn has made an appearance in four of UH's last five conference series. She has become the first pitcher to get the call from the bull pen the last couple of games. At home in the series' second game, she came in relief to earn her first win donning the Green and White throwing 1.2 innings with a walk and a strikeout. This past week at CSUB, Kostyszym recorded her longest outing coming in relief of Campbell-Pua throwing the final 3-2/3 innings She allowed three runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

KELIINOI THE KEY
Ka'ena Keliinoi is hitting .231 as the second batter in the lineup, but her average does not begin to quantify her importance to the team both offensively and defensively. She leads the Big West with 14 sacrifice bunts in which she has advance leadoff hitter Xiao Gin every time--eventually leading to seven runs scored due to her execution and selflessness. She has sneaky power too with six doubles and six home runs this season. The fourth-year junior has also scored a career high 25 runs this year.
On defense, Keliinoi has shown her versatality throughout her four year UH career. This season alone, she has started 24 games at shortstop 10 games in leftfield, and 10 games in rightfield. In season's past, she has also played at second base and catcher.

GIN UP!
Junior Malia Xiao Gin, has started all 44 games at shortstop and batting leadoff for the 'Bows. Currently, the junior shortstop from Oregon State is fourth on the team hitting a shade under .300 at .296. She tied for the team lead with Nakamura with a team-best 26 walks and is second on the team scoring 31 runs while going 40-for -135 at the plate. She joins Nakamura (42) and Martinez (47) as the only UH players to have 40 or more hits thus far. On defense, she has been in on 13 of UH's league leading 17 double plays.