RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Driven by timely power hitting and a collective pitching effort, the University of Hawai'i softball team defeated UC Riverside 6-1 to complete a series sweep in Saturday's regular-season finale at Amy S. Harrison Softball Field in Riverside, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine (29-18) clinched second place in the Big West with a 21-6 conference record. This season marks only the sixth time in program history — and the second since rejoining the Big West in 2013 — that UH has reached the 20-win plateau in conference play.
The 2026 season joins 1987, '94, '95, '98, and 2013 as the only years the program has recorded at least 20 conference wins. The 21 conference wins ties for the fourth most in UH history. The 'Bows' finish in the Big West standings also represents just the third time since rejoining the Big West that Hawai'i has finished the conference schedule in first (2013) or second place (2019).
With Saturday's victory, the Rainbow Wahine also extended their conference win streak to 12 games. The streak is the second longest in school history, trailing only the 18-game streak set by the 2010 Women's College World Series team that finished 19-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. Hawai'i's dominant conference run included taking at least one game from every Big West opponent and winning seven series overall. The 'Bows' impressive stretch featured series sweeps over CSUN, Cal State Bakersfield, UC San Diego, Cal Poly, and UC Riverside.
The Hawai'i offense took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of Saturday's game. After
Carys Murakami tripled,
Ellyanna Cinzori laced another triple to the right-center gap to score Murakami.
UH's offense then broke the game open in the fifth and sixth innings. Millie Fidge provided the game's biggest swing in the fifth, launching a three-run home run to centerfield that scored
Teiah Keliiholokai and
Jamie McGaughey. Cinzori struck again in the sixth, extending the lead by drilling a two-run shot to center to push the advantage to 6-0. For the game, Cinzori went 2-for-3 with a triple and a home run while tyIng her career high with three RBI.
Hawai'i's pitching staff stifled the Highlanders for much of the afternoon, allowing just one run on eight hits.
Macy Brandl earned the win, tossing three scoreless innings in relief.
Hannah Pitts started and ended the contest, though she surrendered the lone Highlander run when Trendee Kahunahana hit an RBI single to score Arianna Saldivar. Maryn MacNeil gave up a hit in an inning of work.
UCR's Emory Cheng took the loss, allowing six runs over 5.1 innings with two walks. Bree Barner tossed 1.2 innings in relief.
Stay tuned for more to come regarding the Big West Championship bracket and tournament information.
#HawaiiSB
