HONOLULU--The University of Hawai'i softball team (29-17, 15-9 Big West) hosts their final homestand of the season against UC San Diego this week. The Rainbow Wahine and Tritons will face off in a single game on Friday, May 2 at 6:00 p.m. HT, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, May 3rd beginning at 2:00 p.m. HT. On Friday, the Rainbow Wahine will celebrate the career of retiring head coach Bob Coolen. Saturday is Senior Day and UH will recognize its five seniors--Liliana Thomas, Addison Kostrencish, Alyssa Nakagawa, Chloe Borges, and Izabella Martinez. All three games will be played at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium where admission is FREE.
 

GAMES 47-49:  Hawai'i (29-17, 15-9 Big West) vs. UC San Diego (14-27, 12-12  Big West)
Dates & Times				Friday, May 2, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. HT (Bob Coolen Night) Saturday, May 3, 2025 (DH) at 2:00/4:00 p.m. HT (SENIOR NIGHT)
Location				Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium )1,200) - Honolulu, O'ahu
Promotions				Friday Is "Bob Coolen Night" and the, first 125 fans will receive specially designed towels in honor of Coach Bob's retirement. UH Prizes will be awarded for the winners of the popular "Ballpark Bingo. The University of Hawaii Federal Credit Union (UHFCU) is the title  sponsor of Saturday's "Show UHM Your Aloha" Senior Day games. Promotions: UHFCU prize packs will be awarded for winners of the popular "Ballpark Bingo.", Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite aloha attire and bring ti leaves to the doubeheader. UHFCU will host the traditional "Senior Night" ceremony following the game on Saturday. In all three games, UH towels will be tossed into the stands during the fourth inning.
Television				ONLY SATURDAY'S GAMES will be broadcast on Spectrum Sports (Ch. 12 [SD] /1012 [HD]). Scott Robbs (play-by-play) and Lori Santi (Color Analyst)
Video Stream				ESPN+ (Blacked out in Hawai'i) - GAME 1  |  Game 2
Game Day Roster				CLICK HERE
Live Stats				GAME 1 | GAME 2 | GAME 3
Game Notes				Hawai'i | UC San Diego
Social Media				@HawaiiSB  | #HawaiiSB | @HawaiiSoftball  | Facebook

HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (29-17, 15-9 Big West)Head Coach: Bob Coolen (34th Season)
Record at UH: 1,129-733-1
Overall Record: 1,201-826-1
Series Record vs. UCSD: 7-5
Last series vs. UCSD: Last season UH and UCSD opened the series with a doubleheader split. The Tritons won the opener, 2-0, but the 'Bows battled back to take the second game, 5-2. The third game was rained out and not made up.

UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS (14-27, 12-12 Big West)Head Coach: Nikki Palmer (First Season)
Record at UCSD: 14-27
Career Record: 240-346
Last Week:  The Tritons dropped their three game series vs CSUN, 2-1. The Matadors won the first two games, 5-1 and 5-2. But the Tritons fought back and edged out CSUN in eight innings 3-2 in their final home game of the season.

QUICK HITSLAST WEEK
CSUN MAKE UP GAME - Hawai'i had a busy week on the road, playing five games in four days. UH kicked things off on Wednesday with their make up game at  CSUN. The Matadors took an early 3-0 lead, but the 'Bows battled their way to tie the game at 3-3 in the fourth. CSUN then scored a combined seven runs in their final three innings to take a 10-3 lead. UH tried to rally in the seventh, scoring on a Milan Ah Yat RBI-double that scored Carys Murakami and a bases loaded RBI-single by Ellyanna Cinzori that drove home pinch runner Kennedy Thompson. UH dropped the game, 10-5 at CSUN thus losing the series 2-1.

UCSB MAKE UP GAME - In their second make up game of the week, UH faced off against UC Santa Barbara just prior to the start of UH's series at Cal Poly. The 'Bows and Gauchos made up their game from last week Friday in Honolulu. The two teams squared off at Cal Poly's Bob Janssen Field in San Luis Obispo. UH had a 4-1 led heading into the sixth inning, but UCSB rallied to score three runs to knot the score at 4-4. In the bottom of the seventh, UH's Larissa Goshi led off with a single. After an out, Murakami and Ah Yat both drew walks to load the bases. The Gauchos then changed pitchers and their final reliever, Sam Stolll entered the game and issued a four-pitch walk to Jamie McGaughey for a walk-off walk to force Goshi across the plate as UH won, 5-4. With the win UH captured its fifth Big West series of the season.

CAL POLY SERIES - In the opener vs. the Mustangs, Cal Poly took a 1-0 lead in the third. The Mustangs held UH off the scoreboard until the seventh. CP got a strikeout to start the top of the seventh, but then a pair of fielding errors allowed Chloe Borges and Goshi to reach safely. Izabella Martinez then hit an infield single to load the bases with one out. Cal Poly's third fielding error of the inning on a Murakami grounder to third forced Borges across th plate and kept the bases juiced. Ah Yat then drew an RBI walk to score Goshi for the go-ahead run. McGaughey drove a two-RBI single to center to drive in Martinez and Murakami for the 4-1 win.

In the second game, Hawai'i jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. But three runs in the third and three more in the fourth allowed the Mustangs to cruise to a 6-2 win to even the series at 1-1. In the series finale, UH erupted for four runs in the second on RBI singles by Borges, Goshi and Martinez (2RBI). Kolbi Kochi added a fifth run on another RBI single in the third to extend UH's lead to 5-0. UH starter Macy Brandl fired her sixth complete game shutout of the season to improve to 15-6 overall. She retired the first seven Mustangs in a row and the last 11-straight to end the game.

COOLEN EARNS 1,200TH CAREER WIN, ENTERS FINAL HOME SERIES
With UH's two wins last Friday against UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly, head coach Bob Coolen recorded his 1,200th career win. Prior to taking over at Hawai'i, Coolen posted 72 wins at Bentley College from 1985-89. He has since won 1,129 games at UH. Coolen captured his 1,00th by winning both ends of a doubleheader against Charleston Southern and Toledo on March 4, 2017. He then recorded his 1,100th win in Las Vegas, Nev. with a 7-5 win over Cal State Bakersfield on Feb. 13, 2022.

This week marks the final home games for Coolen who has paced the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium dugout for the past 34 years as the head coach and 36 years total (two years as an assistant). During his tenura, has led the Rainbow Wahine to all 11 NCAA tournaments (1994, '95, '98, '99, 2001, '03, '07, '08, '10, '12, '13). He guided the 'Bows to a pair of Super Regionals (2007, '10) and one amazing trip to the 2010 Women's College World Series.

Coolen has coached 156 total Rainbow Wahine during his 34 years at the helm of the program. He has coached 11 Rainbow Wahine who earned 14 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America awards; 14 players who received 19 Easton All-American awards; and 42 players who earned 61 total NFCA All-Region honors. Forty-two Rainbow Wahine have received 82 All-Big West accolades and 44 'Bows have earned 88 all-Western Athletic Conference honors.

Coolen has been named conference Coach of the Year six times (4-WAC/2-Big West). Under Coolen, Hawai'i has had seven WAC Players of the Year; nine conference Pitchers of the Year (6-WAC/3-Big West); eight conference Freshmen of the Year (6-WAC/2-Big West); and two Big West Defensive Players of the Year.

In the classroom under Coolen, UH has had three Rainbow Wahine earn CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-America Awards and 14 different Rainbow Wahine have earned 19 total Academic All-District awards. Sixty-nine UH players have earned 149 total National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete awards. Thirty-eight players have earned 64 total WAC All-Academic awards and 60 Rainbow Wahine have earned 110 Big West All-Academic honors. Coolen also has had two players--Tracie Uchima (2002-05) and Kelly (Majam) Elms (2010-13) finish their collegiate careers as NCAA Woman of the Year finalists.

AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS...
Coming into the final week of the regular season, Hawai'i can finish anywhere from second place to sixth place in the final Big West standings. The top six teams qualify for the first ever Big West Championship next week in Fullerton, Calif.. Hawai'i is currently tied for third place with CSUN with a 15-9 conference record. CSUN has the tiebreaker over UH having won the make-up game last week. Sitting one game ahead of the 'Bows in second place at 16-8 is UC Santa Barbara. With UH's make-up game win over the Gauchos last week, the 'Bows have the tie-breaker over UCSB. Leading the Big West is Cal State Fullerton at 19-5. UCSB finishes the regular season at CSUN this week. Long Beach is in fourth place at 14-10 and this week's UH opponent, UC San Diego enters this week with a 12-12 record. 

CINZORI EARNS FIRST BIG WEST FIELD PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Junior designated player Ellyanna Cinzori was named Big West Field Player of the Week on Monday after leading UH with a .455 batting average last week. Cinzori, a native of Encinitas, Calif., went 5-for-11 at the plate with two doubles and a home run. She drove in four runs while scoring one during the team's five-game roadtrip. In UH's make-up game at CSUN last week, Cinzori racked up a career-high three hits, going 3-for-4 knocking in a pair of runs with two doubles. Then against UC Santa Barbara, Cinzori helped defeat the Gauchos, going 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBI. It marked her second homer of the season and her career, 5-4. In UH's opener at Cal Poly, Cinzori went 1-for-3.

NEVER SAY DIE
Fourteen of UH's 29 win this year have been "come-from-behind" victories. Last week, both of UH's wins on Friday were of the comeback variety.  UC Santa Barbara scored one run in the third but UH evened the score in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Ah-Yat that scored Goshi. In the fourth Cinzori hit a two-run bomb and Murakami gave UH a 4-1 lead after scoring on a wild pitch. UCSB then rallied to knot the score at 4-4 with three runs in the sixth. In the bottom of the seventh, UH loaded the bases for one out and McGaughey drew a four-pitch, walk-off walk to defeat UCSB, 5-4 with a walkoff walk. It marked McGaughey's second walkoff RBI of the season. On Feb. 28 against Jackson State, McGaughy hit a three-run homer to end the game via mercy rule.

In Hawai'i's second game of the day, in UH's series opener at Cal Poly, it was the Mustangs who led 1-0 until the seventh inning when the CP defense struggled. With one out to start the final frame, UH loaded the bases on two errors and a single. Murakami reached on the Mustangs' third fielding error of the inning to drive in Borges. Ah Yat kept things going with a bases loaded walk to score Goshi. McGaughey then capped the scoring with a two-RBI single to center and UH held off Cal Poly for the 4-1 win.

The team has some Manoa magic of its own as six of its 29 wins have been via walkoffs. Milan Ah Yat has come through in the clutch in three of the thrilling wins. On March 16th, Ah Yat  blasted a two run home run to defeat Utah Tech 8-6 in eight innings. She hit an RBI-single against Howard (3/1) as she ended the mercy-rule game 5-0 against the Bison. And, against UC Riverside, UH overcame a 2-0 deficit, scoring three in the bottom of the seventh. Martinez tied the game knocking in a pair of runs with an RBI single. Ah Yat followed by driving in Goshi with a grounder to short for the 3-2 win.

McGaughey has been responsible for two of the walkoffs as well. She launched a three-run homer to down Jackson State, 10-1 in six innings and last week she drew a bases loaded walk off walk vs. UCSB in San Luis Obispo.

DEFENSE CONTINUES TO LEAD BIG WEST
Since March 2, the Rainbow Wahine have led the league with the top fielding percentage. Currently, the 'Bows have a .977 team fielding percentage which ranks UH at  No. 13 in the NCAA DI. UH entered last week's gauntlet of road games having not committed an error in their last three series, but last week alone the 'Bows were tagged with six errors. In home games, UH has had 12 errors in 27 games for a .984 fielding %, while on the road in 13 games, UH has 11 errors for a .969 fielding %. Among the starers, UH first baseman Jamie McGaughey leads the team with a 1.000 fielding % with 255 putouts, and two assists. 

IRON WOMEN
There are four Rainbow Wahine who have started all 46 games this season--Martinez at catcher, McGaughey at first, Murakami at second and Ah Yat at short. For Martinez, she has started 145 consecutive games. Two others--Borges in center and Liliana Thomas at third--have started 45 of UH's 46 games this year. 

BRANDL SOLID IN CIRCLE
Sophomore pitcher Macy Brandl went 2-1 last week falling at CSUN but earning both of UH's wins at Cal Poly. She held the Mustangs to just one run in 14.0 innings pitched to record a 0.50 ERA. Overall, she improved to 15-6 with six complete game shutouts and two saves in 137.0 total innings pitched with an ERA of 3.32. She has walked 39 while striking out 72 and has held opponents to a .259 batting average. In conference, she is 9-3 and has lowered her ERA to 2.92 in 76.2 innings.

MARTINEZ = OFFENSIVE JUGGERNAUT
Senior catcher UH leadoff hitter Izabella Martinez continues to set the table for the 'Bows. She leads UH with a 356 batting average, 53 hits, 11 doubles, 27 walks, and a .458 slugging percentage.  In conference, she has upped her game, hitting .370 with a team-high 30 hits. Martinez also has a team-best 13 multiple hit games this season. On defense, she is one of the few catchers who calls her own game, and she has thrown out 11 runners who have dared to try to steal off of her.. Last week against UCSB with the score tied at 4-4 in the top of the seventh with two outs, the Gaucho runner on first tried to steal off of Martinez, but was gunned down for their final out of the game as UH rallied to score the walk off run in the next half inning.