Bob Coolen is partial to new scenery. Trekking to Seattle for the Hawaii softball team’s 2013 NCAA regional is about as fresh as it gets for the Rainbow Wahine and their longtime coach.
No. 20/24 UH (43-11) will try to recapture its 2010 Women’s College World Series magic starting against Minnesota (35-17) in a 12:30 p.m. game at Washington on Friday.
The host Huskies (38-15), the No. 11 seed in the field of 64, play Portland State (25-29) in the other Friday game at Husky Softball Stadium. UH will meet one of those teams on Saturday in the double-elimination format. The first of two possible regional finals is Sunday at 10 a.m.
NCAA SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Washington Regional; double-elimination
FRIDAY
» Game 1: Hawaii (43-11) vs. Minnesota (35-17), 12:30 p.m.
» Game 2: No. 11 seed Washington (38-15) vs. Portland State (25-29), 3 p.m.
SATURDAY
» Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 10 a.m.
» Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 12:30 p.m.
» Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 3 p.m.
SUNDAY
» Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 10 a.m.
» Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 12:30 p.m.*
* — if necessary
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Coolen’s program last played in Seattle in the 1999 NCAA regional, when the Huskies defeated UH to move on to a super regional.
"If they’re going to keep us in the West, I’d rather move around than always be sent to the same regionals," said Coolen, who has taken UH to 11 NCAA tournaments in 24 years. "So this is good for us. … We know Washington’s going to be tough at home. We gotta get by Minnesota first, and we’ll just play our game. And that’s it."
UH seeks some postseason redemption coming off last season’s two-and-out performance at the Tucson, Ariz., regional.
The Wahine watched the NCAA selection show from a Buffalo Wild Wings in Stockton, Calif., the town where they completed their Big West season at 20-4 on Saturday with a sweep of Pacific. It was a stress-free experience; UH knew it had an automatic bid derived from its regular-season conference championship.
By luck of the draw, UH is familiar with two of the three other teams in its region.
"We’re really excited to go to Washington. Some of the girls had predicted Washington as where we would end up, so it was pretty fun that way," senior leadoff hitter Kelly Majam said. "It’s going to be different weather. We’ve played Washington, so we know what they’re about."
The Wahine split two games with the Huskies (a 5-2 win and a 3-1 loss) in the Paradise Classic in February, and swept Portland State in two meetings in the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament in March.
Coolen said his team would stay "status quo" and wouldn’t concern itself with details on Minnesota, but Majam said she’d get some tips about the Golden Gophers from her sister, Mari, a junior at Northwestern of the Big Ten.
UH faced 10 teams in the NCAA field this season and went 9-5 against them.
UH last played Minnesota in 1990. The Gophers took third in their league at 14-6 this year.
Washington, the 2009 national champion, made the NCAA tournament for the 20th straight year, and has made the Women’s College World Series in half of those postseasons.
