The first two weeks of the University of Hawaii softball team’s hectic homestand have seemingly built toward the four-day stretch coming up.
The Rainbow Wahine pulled out a 4-0 win over East Carolina on Tuesday to improve to 10-1 over the last 14 days and will be among three nationally ranked teams taking the field today in the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament.
"We’ve already played a bunch of games and we’ve played a bunch of teams, but now we’re going to play ranked opponents and that definitely shows us where we’re at as a team," UH senior Kelly Majam said. "This is a part that culminates the whole preseason before we go into conference."
UH (18-5), which rose to No. 20 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and No. 23 in the ESPN.com/ USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 on Tuesday, faces Utah (13-6-1) at 6 p.m. in its opening game in the four-day Spring Fling. The Utes arrive in Honolulu on an 11-0-1 run since Feb. 16.
The Wahine then take on No. 4/5 California (20-2) on Thursday. UH has a doubleheader against Syracuse (6-10) and No. 15 Baylor (22-3) on Friday and the tournament —and UH’s homestand — ends with bracket play on Saturday.
But first the Rainbow Wahine had to fend off East Carolina on Tuesday.
Senior pitcher Kaia Parnaby struck out two batters in each of the first five innings to reach double digits for the fifth time this season and the third time in her last five appearances. She finished with 12 strikeouts while raising her record to 16-2.
ECU’s Sarah Christian matched zeroes with Parnaby until the Wahine put together a four-run rally in the fifth.
"I knew they would come out and give us a hard-fought game," UH coach Bob Coolen said. "Their pitcher did a nice job of keeping us off balance. … We made adjustments, they listened, and it finally worked."
Before the fifth inning, Coolen had reminded freshman Keiki Carlos to "stay grounded" to maintain her balance through her swing. When she came up with the bases loaded, she drilled a single to center to drive in pinch runner Brynne Buchanan. The ball was bobbled in the outfield, allowing Majam to score from second.
"She’s strong in her legs and she needs to stay grounded," Coolen said. "She’s such a good hitter, her hands are so quick. … When she keeps her feet down and really sees the ball she can scream it anywhere."
Jessica Iwata followed with another single to score Kayla Wartner, and Leisha Li‘ili‘i’s double to right gave UH a 4-0 lead.
Parnaby held ECU (8-15) to four singles, one coming off the bat of Mililani graduate Kristi Oshiro, in her seventh shutout of the season.
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
ECU (8-15) 000 000 0 — 0 4 2
Hawaii (18-5) 000 040 x — 4 7 0
Sarah Christian and Kai Clark. Kaia Parnaby and Kayla Wartner. W—Parnaby. L—Christian. Leading hitters—Hawaii: Keiki Carlos, 2-3, RBI; Jessica Iwata, 2-3, RBI; Leisha Li‘ili‘i, 2B, RBI.
Also Tuesday Syracuse 3, East Carolina 0
