Long Beach State hit eight home runs in sweeping today’s doubleheader against the University of Hawaii softball team.

The 49ers hit four homers in a 14-7 win in the first game and four more in an 11-3 five-inning victory in the finale to claim the Big West series.

The Rainbow Wahine fell to 38-10 overall and 15-3 in Big West play. LBSU improved to 32-20 and 14-7 and closed to within 2 1/2 games behind first-place UH in the conference standings.

A day after being hit in the face by a hard chopper back to the circle, UH senior Kaia Parnaby was in the dugout but didn’t pitch. Freshman Loie Kesterson started both games and took the losses.

LBSU’s run total in the opener was the highest given up by UH this season and pitcher Erin Jones-Wesley struck out eight and held the Wahine offense to two runs on two hits in 5 2/3 innings of relief.

UH center fielder Kelly Majam homered in her first two at-bats, but the Wahine went without a hit from the third to sixth innings.

Kesterson gave up back-to-back infield singles to open the first inning. After two flyouts, Karli  Sandoval gave the 49ers a 3-0 lead with a home run to center field.

Majam answered for UH in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff homer to center, the 70th of her career and 16th of the season.

LBSU scored twice in the second to take a 5-1 lead that UH erased in the bottom of the inning. Majam homered again, this time with two runners on, to cut the lead to 5-4. Kayla Wartner and Keiki Carlos walked and advanced on a groundout. Jones-Wesley was called for two illegal pitches, the first scoring Wartner with the tying run and the second bringing Carlos in with the go-ahead run.

Kesterson got the first two outs of the third before giving up back-to-back home runs to Sarah Carrasco and Nalani St. Germain.

Carlos was summoned to pitch for the first time since March 15 and gave up an RBI double to Shayna Kimbrough before getting out of the third with LBSU leading 8-6.

The 49ers put together a three-run rally with two out in the sixth and scored three more in the seventh with Hannah De Gaetano providing the final blow with a two-run homer.

Kesterson got the start again in the series finale and 49ers continued their power surge with Darian Tautalafua hitting a two-run homer with two out in the first inning.

De Gaetano’s two-out RBI single in the third pushed the lead to 3-0 and the 49ers pulled away with a five-run fourth capped by Leilani Tupua-Tautalatasi’s two-run homer.

Carrasco and St. Germain hit back-to-back homers in the fifth and LBSU led 11-0.

UH rallied for three runs in the bottom of the inning, two scoring on Jazmine Zamora’s single with the bases loaded, but the Wahine couldn’t extend the game.