FULLERTON, Calif.--The University of Hawai'i softball team (31-18, 17-10 Big West) is gearing up to compete in the first-ever Big West Championship from Wednesday, May 7 - Saturday, May 10, The fifth-seeded Rainbow Wahine will take on #4 Long Beach State in the tourney's opening game on May 7th at 10:00 a.m. HT at the Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, Calif..
 

2025 Big West Softball Championship
Teams				No. 1 Cal State Fullerton, No. 2. CSUN, No. 3 UC Santa Barbara, No. 4. Long Beach State, No. 5 Hawai'i, No. 6 UC San Diego
Dates				Wednesday, May 7 - Saturday, May 10, 2025
Location				Anderson Family Field - Fullerton, Calif.
UH OPENING GAME				No. 4 Long Beach State (27-20, 17-10 BW) vs. No. 5 Hawai'i (31-18, 17-10 BW) - May 7, 2025 - 10:00 a.m. HT
Live Video Stream				ESPN+
Live Stats				Click here
Tournament Central				Interactive Bracket
Social Media				@HawaiiSB  | #HawaiiSB | @HawaiiSoftball  | Facebook

#5 HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (31-18, 17-10 Big West)Head Coach: Bob Coolen (34th Season)
Record at UH: 1,131-734-1
Overall Record: 1,203-827-1
Series Record vs. LBSU: LBSU leads, 75-36
Last series vs. LBSU: The 'Bows and Beach opened the 2025 Big West season against each in the first week of conference play. Hawai'i won the first game, 6-1 with LBSU-transfer Addison Kostrencich earning the complete-game win. After taking a 3-2 lead in Game 2, UH led until The Beach scored to in the fifth andd another four runs in the top of the seventh to pull away for an 8-3 win. In the series finale, Long Beach State won the series with a 9-1 win.

#4 LONG BEACH STATE (27-20, 17-10 Big West)Head Coach: Kim Sowder (19th Season)
LBSU/Career Record: 573-394-1
Last Week: The Beach outlasted Cal Poly, 2-1 in 10 innngs to open their three game series vs. the Mustangs. Long Beach State followed with an 11-0 mercy rule, five inning win in series finale.

QUICK HITSLAST WEEK
Last week was full of emotion for the Rainbow Wahine. On Friday night, UH celebrated Bob Coolen Night as he is retiring after 34 years as head coach and 36 total years as he started with two years as a UH assistant under Rayla Allison. Almost 50 Rainbow Wahine alumnae came out to celebrate their former coach on Friday. Prior to the game, members of Coolen's very first team in 1992 presented him with his 1,200th career win plaque. Then after Saturday's doubleheader, UH honored its senior class with its traditional Senior Day festivities.

On the field, UC San Diego held off Hawai'i in the opener, 4-1 on Friday night. But the 'Bows battled back on the second day, sweeping Saturday's doubleheader. First, UH starter Addison Kostrencich earned a complete-game victory as Hawai'i defeated the Tritons, 7-4. Then in the rubber game, both teams were tied at 3-3. In the sixth, Jamie McGaughey blasted her 11th homer of the year for what proved to be the winning run, 4-3.

MARTINEZ EARNS BIG WEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR; SIX NAMED ALL-BIG WEST
Senior catcher Izabella Martinez became just the third Rainbow Wahine in history to be named Big West Defensive Player of the Year, joining only UH standouts centerfielder Kelly Majam (2013) and shortstop Nawai Kaupe (2021-22).On offense, she leads Hawai'i with career-highs with a .348 batting average, 54 hits, 11 doubles, 31 walks and a .463 on-base percentage. She been UH's leadoff hitter all year and has reached base safely in 47 of 49 games. She has started 148 consecutive games over the last four years. This season, she had one error overall for a .995 fielding percentage, while throwing out 12 runners who have dared to steal off of her.
 
Sophomore first baseman Jamie McGaughey  started all 49 games at first while leading UH with 11 home runs, 34 RBI, and a .640 slugging percentage. She recorded career highs with 24 runs scored, 45 hits, nine doubles, a triple and 22 walks. She leads UH with nine multiple RBI games, including a career-high 5 RBI game at Cal St. Fullerton (3/28). McGaughey's 11 home runs ranks her tied for second in the Big West while on defense, she is one of six Big West players to record a 1.000 fielding percentage for the entire regular season. She had 279 chances with 276 put-outs and three assists.
  
HONORABLE MENTION-Sophomore shortstop Milan Ah Yat hit .292 (42-for-144) with 17 runs scored seven doubles and five home runs. She has been clutch, accounting for three of UH's six walk-off wins this year. She ranks third on the team with 26 RBI and ended regular season reaching base safely in the last 11-straight games.  Senior centerfielder Chloe Borges finished the conference season with a .290 average. Against Cal State Bakersfield, Borges went off, hitting.800 for the series. She was 4-for-5 with a double and two home runs. She scored four runs, drove in three runs and was walked five times and plunked once. In all, she reached base safely in 10 of 11 plate appearances against the 'Runners. She scored a career-high three runs alone in the second game of the series..  Sophomore pitcher Macy Brandl finished the regular season with a 16-7 overall record and a 10-4 mark in conference. Overall, has a 3.28 ERA in 149.1 innings pitched with  six complete game shutouts and two saves. Brandl has 40 walks to 74 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .252 batting average overall. In conference games, she lowered her ERA to 2.91 in 89.0 innings.  Junior rightfielder Larissa Goshi made an immediate impact, sparking UH's come-from-behind, series clinching win at Cal State Fullerton. She started the last 16-straight games and finished the Big West season with a .340 batting average (17-for-50). In just 16 starts, the lefty-hitting Goshi scored 12 runs with a double and five RBI. Overall, she hit .321 for the season. She is a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases.

COOLEN CELEBRATES 1,200TH CAREER WIN, RETIREMENT
Two weeks ago in San Luis Obispo, Calif., head coach Bob Coolen recorded his 1,200th career win. 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.

THE TOP SIX
Host Cal State Fullerton enters the inaugural Big West Championship as the top seed with a 37-15 overall and a 21-5 Big West mark. Since UH defeated the Titans and won just their third series at Fullerton, CSF has won 15-straight Big West games. The No.'s 2-5 seeds were all tied at the end of the regular season with 17-10 records. When all the tie-breakers shook out, CSUN emerged as the No. 2 seed with 24-24 overall record. UC Santa Barbara is the No. 3 seed with a 28-23 overall record, while Long Beach State comes in as the No. 4 seed with a 27-20 overall mark. Hawai'i enters the week as the No. 5 seed. UC San Diego is the No. 6 seed with a 15-30 overall and 13-14 conference record.

HAWAI'i'S RECORD
It is the 26th time that UH has won at least 30 games in a season. UH won at least 30 wins in nine-straight seasons from from 2005-'13. The Rainbow Wahine have won at least 40 games 10 times and 50 games three times in UH history1994, 2007, and '10. UH's 17-10 mark is its second best record since rejoining the Big West in 2013. In 2013, UH went 20-4 and advanced to its last NCAA Regional. UH also went 17-10 in 2022.

CINZORI CATCHING FIRE
Over the last two weeks, junior designated player Ellyanna Cinzori  has been hot, hitting a combined .450 (9-for-20). Two weeks ago, Cinzori earned her first career  Big West Field Player of the Week award after leading UH with a .455 batting average going 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. Overall, Cinzori is hitting .276.

NEVER SAY DIE
Sixteen of UH's 31 win this year have been "come-from-behind" victories. Last week, Hawai'i trailed UC San Diego in both of their wins on Saturday.

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. Last week, UH was tied with UC San Diego 3-3 going to the sixth, but McGaughey blasted her 11th home run of the season to break the tie for what proved to be the winning run in the sixth. 

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 .976 team fielding percentage which ranks UH at  No. 12 in the NCAA DI. 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 49 games this season--Martinez at catcher, McGaughey at first, Murakami at second and Ah Yat at short. For Martinez, she has started 148 consecutive games. Two others--Borges in center and Liliana Thomas at third--have started 45 of UH's 46 games this year. 

PITCHERS END REGULAR SEASON STRONG
Sophomore pitcher Macy Brandl went 1-1 last week to improve to 16-7 overall. Against the Tritons, she allowed six runs on eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts. She held UCSD to a .1sts 74 batting average over 12.1 innings. Overall, Brandl carries a 3.28 ERA into this week. She has tossed six complete game shut outs and has earned a pair of saves in 149.2 innings of work. 

Senior pitcher Addison Kostrencisch won her game against the Tritons, 7-4. she allowed four runs on eight hits in a complete game effort. Overall, Kostrencich is 13-10 with a 3.41 ERA in 133.1 innings of work.