A Hawaii softball team aiming for a return to the postseason will have to navigate a schedule peppered with regional participants.

UH’s 2012 schedule released Tuesday includes 10 teams that advanced to the NCAA regionals last season. UH head coach Bob Coolen said the scheduling upgrade was by design after the Wahine missed the postseason last year with a 37-18 record.

“This year I tried to see what we could do to better the schedule,” Coolen said. “A lot of teams inquired about our (early-season) tournaments and we were fortunate to get the likes of DePaul, Texas and Texas A&M, and Cal comes every year.”

The Rainbow Wahine, led by seven seniors, open the 2012 season Feb. 9 with the Paradise Classic, which will include regional participant DePaul. The team will play in the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, then return March 2-4 for the Bank of Hawaii Invitational, which includes Florida State.

The Chevron Spring Fling tournament (March 16-18) is particularly stacked with California, Texas and Texas A&M highlighting the six-team field. Cal finished last season in the Women’s College World Series and Texas A&M reached the super regionals. Texas had the nation’s fifth best RPI before being upset in the regionals.

“Usually you have one, maybe two teams at most, that are in the top 25 (in a tournament),” Coolen said. “We’ve got three teams that potentially could be in the top 10. It’s going to be a tournament where you have to be at your best.”

The Western Athletic Conference schedule also got a boost with the addition of BYU, which will join the league for softball only this season.

UH opens its final WAC campaign at home against San Jose State on March 23. The WAC tournament is set for May 9-12 at Las Cruces, N.M.

» Schedule, C8