HONOLULU--The University of Hawai'i softball team (1-9) hosts their Spring Fling Tournament this week from Feb. 29 - March 2 at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The Rainbow Wahine will welcome LMU (5-10, 0-0 WCC), Portland State (3-9, 0-0 Big Sky), and Tennessee State (6-6, Ohio Valley Conf.) to the Islands.

 

SPRING FLING TOURNAMENT (Feb. 29 -Mar. 2, 2024)
Tournament Schedule				Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 3:30 p.m. HT - LMU vs. Portland State 6:00 p.m. HT - Hawai'i vs. Tennessee State Friday, Mar. 1, 2024 11:00 a.m. HT - Tennessee State vs. Portland State 1:30 p.m. HT - Tennessee State vs. LMU 4:00 p.m. HT - Hawai'i vs. Portland State 7:00 p.m. HT - Hawai'i vs. LMU Saturday, Mar. 2, 2024 Game 1:  10:00 a.m. HT - #2 Seed vs. #3 Seed Game 2: 12:30 p.m. HT - #1 Seed vs. #4 Seed Game 3: 3:30 p.m. HT - Loser Gm. 1 vs. Loser Gm. 2 Game 4: 6:00 p.m. HT - Winner Gm.1 vs. Winner Gm.2 (Championship Game)
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, UH prizes will be thrown into the stands during the fourth inning of every UH game.
Radio				CBS 1500 Hawai'i will be broadcasting ONLY UH's first game of the Spring Fling Tournament vs. Tennessee State - Tiff Wells handling the play-by-play
Audio LInk				cbssportshawaii.com (Thursday's UH-TSU game ONLY)
Live Stats				HawaiiAthletics.com
Game Day Rosters				Spring Fling Tournament Game Day Roster
Game Notes				Hawai'i  | LMU | PSU | TSU
Social Media				@HawaiiSB  | #HawaiiSB | @HawaiiSoftball  | Facebook
Tickets				Admission is FREE

HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (1-9, 0-0 Big West)Head Coach: Bob Coolen (33rd Season)
Record at UH: 1,058-699-1
Overall Record: 1,130-772-1 (38th season)
Conference Records: 317-200 (WAC/Big West)

TENNESSEE STATE TIGERS (6-6, 0-0 Ohio Valley Conference)Head Coach: Genee McRath (Fifth Season)
McRath's TSU Record: 59-115
UH Record vs. TSU: First meeting
Streak: First meeting

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (3-9, 0-0 Big Sky Conference)Head Coach: Meadow McWhorter (Eighth Season)
PSU/Overall Record: 117-199
UH Record vs. PSU: 20-7
Streak: UH won last two in the Hawaii Invitational (2/23/20)
Last meeting: UH defeated the Vikings twice in the 2020 Hawaii Invitational. In the tourney finale, the 'Bows edged out PSU, 8-7 scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth to leapfrog over PSU.

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT LIONS (5-10, 0-0 West Coast Conference)Head Coach: Tairia Flowers (Five Season);
Flowers' LMU Record: 92-80 (Five Seasons)
Flowers' Overall Record: 351-243 (15 seasons)
UH Record vs. LMU: 34-8
Last meeting: The Lions edged out UH, 6-5 in the Golden State Classic Tournament in Lake Elsinore, Calif. on 2/16/20.


QUICK HITSROUGH START
Hawai'i enters the week on an eight game losing streak with a 1-9 overall record. UH is on its losing streak since UH lost nine-straightin the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Last week the 'Bows went winless at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic but never stopped fighting. This is UH's worst start under head coach Bob Coolen. The Rainbow Wahine have opened the season against DI teams at 1-9 only twice in program history--once in the second year of existence in 1986 and in 1989 when UH began the year at 1-17 against DI competition.

MARTINEZ CONTINUES LEADING THE WAY
Junior catcher Izabella Martinez continues to lead UH at the plate with a .333 batting average. She is the lone Rainbow Wahine to be hitting over .300 this week. She also leads UH with eight hits, five RBI, seven walks and a .484 on-base percentage.  On defense, the junior from Garden Grove, Calif. continues to call her own games and has thrown out three runners trying to steal--the last was against Illinois when she gunned down the runner at second from her knees.

MILLWOOD FINDING GROOVE BACK
Redshirt senior Dallas Millwood led UH hitting .364 last week at the MNCC. She went 4-for-11 with a double a run scored and an RBI for the week. Last season she went down on the road in Las Vegas for the season. She is continuing to make strides in her recovery. Overall, she is hitting .261.

BETHEA BLASTING OFF AGAIN
Senior utility player Mya'Liah Bethea once again is hitting homers to start the season. Last year, she led the Big West with 12 homers. She continues to provide power in the lineup and she is tied for the league lead with three home runs with Cal State Fullerton's Hannah Becerra. She leads UH with a .680 slugging percentage and she had reached base safely in eight-straight games but her streak was snapped in UH's most recent game vs. No. 5 Tennessee. On defense, Bethea has shown her versatility playing in both left and centerfield as well as some time at first base where she played almost the entire 2023 after Millwood suffered her season ending injury.

JOHNSON PROVIDING POWER AT CLEANUP
Senior designated player Haley Johnson is tied for second on the team with a .280 batting average with Bethea. Currently she is tied for second on the team with second hits and has a team-high two doubles. She has been penciled in as UH's cleanup hitter in nine of UH's 10 games.

PITCHING STRUGGLES
Hawai'i's pitching staff is looking to steady out and regain some confidence after struggling the first three weeks of the season. UH enters this week with a team-combined 8.31 ERA as UH has been out-scored 82-23 thus far and opponents are hitting .340 against the 'Bows. The staff has a 45-21 walk to strike out ratio.

VETERAN INFIELD & TOP SIX ON OFFENSE RETURN FOR 2024
On paper, Hawai'i returned a solid core from last year's team which won 30 games. The 'Bows returned its top six hitters from 2023 and they accounted for 74% of the team's hits, 66% of UH's runs scored, 73% of RBI, and 72% of the team's home run production. Four Rainbow Wahine hit over .300 in 2023--Nakamura hit .390 to lead Hawai'i last season.
On defense, UH returned seven upperclassmen in the starting defensive lineup--including the entire infield and depending on the lineup, two in the outfield. Except for the pitchers, the 'Bows have junior Izabella Martinez returning at catcher and senior Dallas Millwood returns to first base after a season-ending injury suffered in the second week last year curtailed her season short. Second baseman Nakamura and senior shortstop Malia Xiao Gin return as the perennial double-play duo up the middle. And senior utility player Ka'ena Keliinoi returns to play primarily at the hot corner.