The Big West’s baseball coaches picked the Rainbow Warriors to finish fourth this season in the preseason poll released Friday. The coaches also picked senior shortstop Jordan Donahue to the preseason All-Big West team.
Defending champion UC Santa Barbara received nine of 11 first-place votes and 99 points total as coaches predicted the Gauchos would repeat. UC Irvine finished 10 points back with two first-place votes. Cal Poly, which tied with UH for third last season, was picked third with 79 points and Hawaii had 76.
UC San Diego was picked fifth (63 points), followed by Cal State Northridge (50), UC Davis (47), Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State (tied for eighth with 36 points), Cal State Bakersfield (18) and UC Riverside (12).
Donahue was named to the All-Big West second team last season after he hit .349 with 17 doubles, two homers and 30 RBIs.
Hawaii, which ended the 2024 season by winning its last 11 games, opens the 2025 season on Friday at 6:35 p.m. against Marshall at Les Murakami Stadium.
Rainbow Wahine softball wins 2 in tourney
The University of Hawaii softball team swept its two games Friday to earn the top seed in today’s semifinals of the Bank of Hawai’i Paradise Classic at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
In the Rainbow Wahine’s first game of the day, Macy Brandi scattered four hits, allowed two earned runs and struck out six and Chloe Borges doubled, stole a base and drove in two runs as Hawaii defeated Saint Louis 5-2.
Hawaii (3-0) broke a scoreless tie by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth. After the Billikens closed to 3-2 in the top of the fifth, the Wahine scored single runs in the fifth and sixth. Saint Louis is 1-2.
In the nightcap, UH beat Southern Indiana 7-2. The Screaming Eagles are 1-2
Addison Kostrencich went the distance, allowing only two unearned runs on three hits and a wailk while striking out seven. Cierra Yamamoto and Carys Murakami led the UH offense with two hits apiece, and Millie Fidge added a two-run pinch homer in the sixth inning.
