Hawaii freshman Brittany Hitchcock shut down the Long Beach State offense in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday to give the Rainbow Wahine softball team a shot at stealing a series win.

But following UH’s 3-0 win, the 49ers’ powered to a lead, then held off the Wahine to earn a split while claiming the Big West series with an 8-5 victory in the finale at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Both teams closed the weekend at 5-4 and tied for third in the Big West standings, while CSUN (8-0) continued to distance itself from the pack.

UH goes on the road to play Cal Poly in three-game series starting Friday with a shrinking margin for error in the conference race.

"We’ll see what happens. We have four losses, Long Beach has four losses and now CSUN looks pretty good and they probably feel pretty good because they took care of business," Coolen said. "Right now, it’s getting tougher."

Hitchcock held Long Beach State to three hits, struck out six and walked two while turning in her fourth shutout of the season and the Wahine (24-18) snapped a six-game losing streak against the 49ers (18-22) going into the series finale.

Darian Tautalafua hit two of LBSU’s three home runs in the second game and drove in four runs in support of Christina Clermont, who struck out a season-high 15 in her second complete-game win of the series.

UH countered with Leisha Li’ili’i’s two-run homer to center in the fourth inning and Rachel Lack’s three-run blast to left in the sixth, which cut LBSU’s lead to 6-5.

But Tautalafua struck again in the top of the seventh with a drive to right center that hit the top of the fence and bounced over for a two-run homer.

UH brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning, but Clermont, who earned a 4-2 win in Friday’s opener, escaped with her final strikeout.

Hitchcock went the distance in Saturday’s opener to win a duel with Long Beach State’s Christian Carbajal, who kept the Wahine off balance by floating in changeups. But UH scratched out two runs in the third, opening the scoring on Li’ili’i’s RBI single into right field and Lindsey Willmon’s fielder’s choice grounder to third.

UH added a run in the fifth when Lack’s fly ball into left-center fell in for a double to bring Li’ili’i around from second.

LBSU took command in the second game on back to back home runs by Tautalafua and Julia Lombardi in the top of the second.

With two out in the top of the third, Haley Tobler lifted a fly ball down the left-field line that hit off Lack’s glove as she dove toward foul territory. Home plate umpire Mark Craver ruled it a fair ball, giving Tobler a double. Lauren Lombardi followed with a single through the left side of the infield to score both runners and extended LBSU’s lead to 4-0 and Hitchcock returned in relief of starter Kanani Aina Cabrales.

At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium

Christian Carbajal and Lauren Lombardi. Brittany Hitchcock and Kayla Wartner, Rachel Lack (6), Lindsey Willmon (7). W—Hitchcock. L—Carbajal.

Leading hitters—Long Beach State: Shayna Kimbrough, 2-3, 2B. Hawaii: Keiki Carlos, 3-4, 2B; Leisha Li’ili’i, 2-3, RBI; Rachel Lack, 2B, RBI; Lindsey Willmon, RBI.

Christina Clermont and Lauren MacLeod. Kanani Aina Cabrales, Brittany Hitchcock (3) and Kayla Wartner. W—Clermont. L—Aina Cabrales.

Leading hitters—Long Beach State: Leilani Tupua-Tautalatasi, 3-4; Haley Tobler, 2-4, 2B; Lauren Lombardi, 2 RBIs; Darian Tautalafua, 3-4, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBIs; Julia Lombardi, 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs. Hawaii: Heather Morales, 3-4; Leisha Li’ili’i, 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Rachel Lack, HR, 3 RBIs; Dori Ann Sugai, 2-3, 2B.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

Saturday
Cal State Fullerton 12, UC Riverside 0
Cal State Fullerton 3, UC Riverside 2 (12 innings)
Cal Poly 2, UC Davis 0
UC Davis 6, Cal Poly 3
CSUN 9, UC Santa Barbara 4
CSUN 4, UC Santa Barbara 0
Hawaii 3, Long Beach State 0
Long Beach State 8, Hawaii 5

Sunday
CSUN at UC Santa Barbara, 9 a.m.
Cal Poly at UC Davis, 9 a.m.
Cal State Fullerton at UC Riverside, 9 a.m.