Fifteen outs into her start last Saturday, Brianna Lopez was aware of the situation.
She had gone five innings without allowing a baserunner and “a little spark of a perfect game had popped into my head,” the University of Hawaii freshman said of her start against Montana.
Alas, the 16th batter doubled to lead off the top of the sixth inning in the championship game of the Outrigger Hawaii Invitational. But the left-hander from Riverside, Calif., finished off a one-hit performance in UH’s 2-0 win with her parents in the stands at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
“It’s awesome. This is what I worked for my entire life,” Lopez said of sharing the moment with her parents. “Playing in front of them, it reminds me of all the hard work that we put into this sport.”
The shutout capped a dazzling tournament for Lopez, which earned her the Big West softball Freshman of the Week award on Monday.
Lopez posted a 0.00 earned-run average with 17 strikeouts against four walks over 14 innings and closed the weekend with her first collegiate shutout.
She struck out 11 in a 2-0 loss to Abilene Christian last Friday, with both runs scoring on UH errors. Her strikeout total was the highest for the UH program since Brittany Hitchcock struck out 13 in a 12-inning win over UC Davis on May 9, 2019.
After fellow freshman Chloe Borges fired a two-hit shutout in a semifinal rematch with Abilene Christian on Saturday morning, Lopez got the assignment for the final that afternoon and stifled the Montana lineup.
The double to start the sixth inning was the only ball the UH outfielders handled the entire game. Lopez induced 10 ground-ball outs, got three lineouts and two infield pop-ups while posting one strikeout in each of the first six innings.
“Growing up I was more of a ground-ball pitcher, but I am getting more control over my pitches, which is producing more strikeouts,” Lopez said.
The topic of the potential perfect game did come up when she met up with parents after the win over Montana.
“My dad must have jinxed me, because he’s the one that said it to my mom. I blame him for that one,” Lopez said with a laugh.
“But giving up one hit to Montana is an accomplishment I’m really proud of, and securing the win and celebrating with my teammates was great.”
Lopez acknowledged having to work through some nerves in UH’s opening weekend in the UNLV Rebel Kickoff and went 1-1 in Las Vegas. Over the following week, Lopez said, she worked on building her confidence in sessions with freshman catcher Izabella Martinez.
“She just keeps reassuring me, take it one pitch at a time, and that’s definitely what we worked on in the bullpen,” Lopez said.
Lopez has also bonded with Borges since arriving on campus in the fall. The roommates alternated starts last week, with Borges being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher after going 3-0 for the week.
“We’ll stay up until almost 3 a.m. just talking about life or games and it’s just good to get it out there and talk to someone who’s going through the exact same things that you’re going through.”
The Rainbow Wahine (5-5) have a bye week heading into the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic, set for March 9-12. UH will play host to No. 1 Oklahoma, California and Baylor in its final nonconference tournament of the season.
