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With the potential safety net at the end of the season now gone, there will be a bit more riding on each of the University Hawaii softball team’s games this spring.

2013 WAHINE SOFTBALL SCHEDULE

February Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic: 7—Mississippi, 6 p.m.; UAB, 8 p.m. 8—St. Mary’s 6 p.m., Washington 8 p.m. 9—Bracket play.

Louisville Slugger Desert Classic (at Las Vegas): 14—BYU, 2:30 p.m. 15—San Jose State, 11:30 a.m., UCLA, 4 p.m. 16—Oregon, 11:30 a.m. 17—Utah Valley, 9:15 a.m., Nevada, 11:30 a.m. 27—Memphis, 6 p.m.

March

Bank of Hawaii Invitational: 1—Western Kentucky, 6 p.m. 2—Campbell, 3 p.m., Memphis, 5 p.m. 3—Bracket play.

Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament: 7—Tokyo Women’s College of PE (DH), 6 p.m. 8—Portland State, 8 p.m. 9—Portland State, 4 p.m., East Carolina, 6 p.m. 10—East Carolina, 2 p.m., Portland State, 4 p.m. 11—Syracuse, 6 p.m. 12—East Carolina, 6 p.m.

Chevron Spring Fling Tournament: 13—Utah, 6 p.m. 14—California, 6 p.m. 15—Syracuse, 6 p.m., Baylor, 8 p.m. 16—Bracket play. 23—at Cal State Northridge (DH), 9, 11 a.m.; 24—at Cal State Northridge, 9 a.m. 29—UC Davis, 6 p.m. 30—UC Davis (DH), 2, 4 p.m.

April

5—UC Riverside, 6 p.m. 6—UC Riverside (DH), 2, 4 p.m. 13—at Cal State Fullerton (DH), 1, 3 p.m. 14—at Cal State Fullerton, 9 a.m. 16—at Cal State Bakersfield, 10 a.m. 19—at Cal Poly (DH), 1, 3 p.m. 20—at Cal Poly, 11 a.m. 26—Long Beach State, 6 p.m. 27—Long Beach State (DH), 2, 4 p.m.

May

3—UC Santa Barbara, 6 p.m. 4—UC Santa Barbara (DH), 2, 4 p.m. 10—at Pacific (DH), noon, 2 p.m.; 11—at Pacific, 9 a.m. 17-19—NCAA regionals. 24-25—Super Regionals.
29-June 5—Women’s College World Series.

The Rainbow Wahine, coming off a record-setting 2012 campaign, will face a 2013 schedule that includes eight teams that finished last season in the NCAA tournament and two — California and Oregon —that advanced to the Women’s College World Series before UH’s return to Big West Conference play.

And unlike the Western Athletic Conference, the Big West doesn’t hold a postseason tournament to determine the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

"It’s going to be imperative that our preseason sets us up for the Big West," UH head coach Bob Coolen said. "And then there’s no posturing, every game counts."

Long Beach State earned the Big West’s lone NCAA bid last season.

The Wahine went 44-9 last season and ended the year 23rd in the NCAA’s RPI. They open the upcoming season on Feb. 7 with a doubleheader against Mississippi and Alabama-Birmingham in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic. The tournament also includes Washington and Saint Mary’s.

The Wahine make their lone early-season road trip to the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas and will face Pac-12 powers UCLA and Oregon, along with former WAC rivals BYU, San Jose State and Nevada in the tournament.

UH then hosts three tournaments, closing that run with the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament March 13-16. Four of the five participants in the Spring Fling played in last year’s NCAA tournament — UH, California, Syracuse and Baylor — with Utah of the Pac-12 completing the field.

UH marks its return to the Big West with a road series at Cal State Northridge on March 23-24.

The Wahine open fall practice on Monday and will host exhibition games with Kumamoto International College of Japan and Chaminade in the Fall Paradise Classic on Nov. 2-3. They’ll play the alumnae game on Nov. 9 and will hold an intrasquad scrimmage on Kauai on Nov. 11.

UH replaces four starters in the field and pitcher Stephanie Ricketts, making the fall a critical time to sort out the depth chart.

"We’re already moving people around to see what’s our best shot," Coolen said.

UH returns seniors Jessica Iwata and Kelly Majam, the top two home run hitters in the program’s history, to the batting order and pitcher Kaia Parnaby. Parnaby went 16-3 with a 1.47 earned-run average last season and figures to see a significant increase in innings. She’s joined on the staff by freshmen Keiki Carlos and Loie Kesterson.