CAFULLERTON, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i softball team (29-18, 12-9 Big West) heads to California one last time to take on league-leader Cal State Fullerton (30-16, 17-4 BW) in a three game, Big West series at the Anderson Family Field. The two teams will square off in a single game on Friday. May 5 at 3:00 P.M. HT. The series will end in a doubleheader on Saturday, May 6 beginning at 11:00 A.M. HT.
| GAMES 48-50 - HAWAI'I (29-18, 12-9 BW) vs. CAL STATE FULLERTON 30-16, 17-4 BW) |
| Date | Time |
Friday, May 5, 2023 | 3:00 P.M. HT
Saturday (DH), May 6, 2023 | 11:00 A.M. HT |
| Location |
Anderson Family Field - Fullerton, Calif. |
| Live Stream |
ESPN+ - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| Live Stats |
FullertonTitans.com - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| Game Notes |
Hawai'i (PDF) | Cal State Fullerton |
| Social Media |
@HawaiiSB  | #HawaiiSB | @HawaiiSoftball  | Facebook  |
| Tickets |
Click Here |
HEAD COACH: Bob Coolen
Overall record: 1,150-779-1 (37th Season)
At Hawai'i: 1,078-686-1 (32nd Season)
Last week: UH started last week well, downing Long Beach State 7-3 in the series opener. But on Saturday, the Beach came from behind to defeat UH, 6-2 to tie the series at 1-1 and then pulled away to mercy rule the 'Bows, 8-0 in five innings.
CAL STATE FULLERTON (30-16, 17-4 BIG WEST)
Series Record: Hawai'i is 19-65 all-time against Cal State Fullerton
Last Year: Last years, UH swept the Titans for the first time in program history. The 'Bows eeked out a 1-0 win to start the season and followed with a doubleheader sweep, holding off CSUF, 13-11 and 2-0.
Head Coach: Kelly Ford (11th Season)
NEWS & NOTES• LAST WEEK - UH lost its second BW series of the season, falling to Long Beach State, 2-1. Hawai'i hit three solo home runs and had a four-run fifth inning to down the Beach 7-3 in the opener. But LBSU swept the doubleheader, coming from behind to take the DH opener, 6-2 then pulled away for an 8-0, mercy rule win to win the series.
• RUN PRODUCTION - The UH offense has out-scored their opponents, 230-to-168 overall this season. The 230 total runs in through 47 games is the most since UH scored 230 in 2019 in 48 games. UH has outscored opponents in every frame, except the seventh and ninth innings. UH's most dominant inning has been the second in which the 'Bows have outscored their foes, 31-to-11.
• THAT BALL SAID ALOOOHA! - Hawai'i is averaging a Big West best 1.09 home runs per game which ranks them at No. 34 in the NCAA. As a team UH leads the Big West with 51 home runs. In all, 11 different Rainbow Wahine have belted at least one home run each--including all seven who have started all 47 games this year. UH has already surpassed their home run total of 36 from last season. It is the most HR's since 2019's squad also 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 18 double plays through 45 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.
As a team, UH leads the Big West in five stats
- Double Plays per Game: .38 (NCAA-53)
- Home Runs per Game: 1.09 (NCAA-34)
- Slugging Percentage: .460 (NCAA-44)
• 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 128 at-bats to lead the league. Second on the Big West list is
Maya Nakamura who has struck out five times in 115 AB's and
Ka'ena Keliinoi is third in the conference rankings with eight K's in 140 at-bats this season.
• STEADY LINEUP - The first three and fifth spots in UH's batting order have been the same through the first 46 games 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. BUT in the series finale last week against LBSU, Coach Coolen shook up the entire batting order for the first time all season. Seven Rainbow Wahine have started all 47 games this season—Bartolotti, Bethea, Gin, Keliinoi, Johnson, Martinez, and Nakamura.
• OH MAYA! - In UH's last three series, junior second baseman
Maya Nakamura has been on fire, hitting a team-best .517 (15-for-29). Overall, she leads UH with a .400 batting average and in conferece she has raised her game and is hitting .466 in 21 BW games. The smooth fielding second baseman also leads UH with 35 runs score, 28 walks and a .541 on-base percentage--which is almost exactly .100 points more than the next Rainbow Wahine, Martinez who is at .443.
• BELLA BY THE PLATE - After a two-week stint of red-hot hitting, sophomore catcher
Izabella Martinez comes into Week 13 second on the UH team with a .375 batting average. She leads UH with 468 hits, eight doubles, a .648 slugging percentage and has struck out a team and league low three times. Behind the dish, Martinez has gunned out 16 or 27 runners trying to steal.
• 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 BOMBS LEAD THE BW - Junior
Mya'Liah Bethea has led the league and the team all season in home runs. Currently she has 12 home runs--which is more than five other Big West teams has produced this season. After starting the first seven games in left, the utitliy player from Las Vegas took over at first base after
Dallas Millwood's season-ending injury. Bethea has started 40 games at first base. 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.
• UNSUNG HERO - Although utility player
Ka'ena Keliinoi is hitting just .221, for all but one game this year, she has helped to set the table as the second batter in the lineup. Her batting average does not begin to quantify her importance to the team both on offense and defense. She leads the Big West with 14 sacrifice bunts in which she has advance leadoff hitter Xiao Gin all 14 times. Keliinoi's bunts have lead to seven runs scored due to her execution and selflessness. She has sneaky power with six doubles, and six home runs while scoring a career-high 26 runs.
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