A lengthy absence from campus hasn’t meant a break from schoolwork for the University of Hawaii softball team.

An 11-day trek through California for the Rainbow Wahine means handling their academic work in daily study halls along with preparing for their next test on the Big West schedule.

"The kids have been doing a lot of work and (associate coach) Dee (Wisneski’s) been on top of getting the exams from our academic advisor and it’s just been a lot of study time," UH head coach Bob Coolen said.

The Wahine switch their focus back to the field this afternoon when they open the second half of the Big West season with a doubleheader against Cal Poly at Bob Janssen Field in San Luis Obispo, Calif., starting at 1 p.m. Hawaii time.

The Wahine (34-8, 11-1 Big West) and Mustangs (18-26-1, 7-8) close the series — and UH’s first visit to Cal Poly in the program’s history — with a single game Saturday at 10 a.m.

UH enters the series ranked 15th and 20th in the national polls and with a 11⁄2-game lead over second-place Pacific (11-4), which plays at Cal State Northridge this weekend. Hanging on to the top spot figures to again hinge largely on the left-arm of senior Kaia Parnaby.

Parnaby (31-4, 1.41 earned-run average) has started all four games of the road trip, going 2-1 at Cal State Fullerton, then throwing six strong innings at Cal State Bakersfield in Tuesday’s 8-1 win. She is one win from the program’s single-season record.

Coolen hinted freshmen Loie Kesterson and Keiki Carlos could get more work in the coming series to help keep Parnaby fresh, depending on how the situations develop.

"Obviously Kaia’s going to (start) the first game," Coolen said. "We’re going to see how that first game goes and go from there."

UH has improved its team batting average nine points so far on the trip and enters the Cal Poly series at .285. Five UH players are hitting .300 or better, led by center fielder Kelly Majam at .344. Carlos has pushed her average to .325 with an eight-game hitting streak and is 13-for-28 (.464) over that stretch.

Along with taking care of business academically and in practice, Coolen said the players have worked to maintain their conditioning. A former UH strength coach now works at Cal State Bakersfield and made the weight room available to the Wahine on Wednesday.

"Some of the kids have been going in on their own to stay in shape, trying to keep their strength up, knowing without strength training they’re going to wither, especially on a road trip like this," Coolen said.

Cal Poly is led by Jillian Andersen, who brings a .341 batting average into the series. Kim Westlund follows at .323 with a team-high 21 runs batted in. Sophomore Chloe Wurst (10-12, 2.45) heads the pitching staff.

The all-time series between the teams is tied 2-2, with their last meeting in 1998.

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