HONOLULU — The Hawaii softball team continues to find ways to get it done early in the Big West season.
It was by no means pretty, but the Rainbow Wahine eked out a pair of 4-3 victories over Cal State Northridge on Saturday to sweep their conference doubleheader and guarantee themselves a second straight series win.
Shortstop Nawai Kaupe capped the day’s action by snagging a liner on the run to her left to strand the tying run for the Matadors at third base. She tossed her glove to the infield dirt in jubilation as UH moved to 4-1 in BWC play for the second straight year.
“We want the ball. That’s all we should be thinking,” Kaupe told Spectrum News. “We wanted the ball, and then the outcome was ours, in our favor.”
UH (10-10 overall) is in a three-way tie for second place with Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State heading into Sunday’s rainout make-up date with the Matadors. CSUN (13-19 overall) took its first two conference losses of the season and will look to get one back against UH at noon.
Bob Coolen’s Rainbow Wahine have done it despite the availability of just three pitchers this season, down from seven from the fall. Two of the three are true freshmen.
Third baseman Ka‘ena Keliinoi, hitting from the No. 9 spot, went 1-for-2 with two RBIs in both games.
Freshman Brianna Lopez, the team’s workhorse this season, pitched a complete game in Saturday’s opener to move to 5-4. She struck out six while giving up four hits and issuing four walks.
Lopez was backed by Kaupe and second baseman Maya Nakamura, both of whom cranked solo home runs in the first inning.
CSUN tied it up at 2 in the fourth, but Keliinoi had the go-ahead hit in the bottom of the frame, driving in a pair. The Matators got within a run in the sixth on a Wahine error, but no closer.
Senior Ashley Murphy got the start in Game 2 and went four innings to pick up her first win of the season. Chloe Borges pitched the final three innings for her first career save.
“Bri and then Murph and then Chloe, we need three pitchers, and we showed we have three pitchers today,” Coolen said. “We can score some runs and hold some teams.”
Jaymi Steward got CSUN out in front first in Game 2 with a solo homer in the third, but UH got it back with a single up the middle by Izabella Martinez. Keliinoi again struck in the fourth inning to give UH a 3-1 lead and she came home on an error to make it a three-run game.
CSUN scored twice in the fifth and had runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh before Borges shut the door.
Friday’s inundation of the recently upgraded Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium field had taken UH off guard with heavy overnight rain without a tarp on the infield, Coolen said.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.
