Kalei Contrades’ transition from a utility player to No. 1 starter is complete.

The San Jose State senior started opening night this season and has taken over the role of staff ace for the Spartans, who kick off Mountain West Conference play this weekend at San Diego State.

Contrades, a 2011 Saint Louis graduate, split time between playing outfield and pitching in his first three seasons at San Jose.

Heading into Contrades’ final year, the coaching staff decided to make him a pitcher only, and rewarded him with the No. 1 spot in the starting rotation.

"It’s a great opportunity," Contrades said Tuesday. "Coach (Dave) Nakama wanted me to focus on pitching because we struggled pitching last year."

He first entered the rotation late in his junior year and finished second in the conference with a 2.50 ERA in 17 appearances, seven of them starts.

Contrades closed the year with four consecutive starts of at least eight innings, going 3-0, including an 11-strikeout, nine-inning performance in an MWC tournament win over Air Force.

He spent the summer playing in Alberta, Canada, and was the No. 1 starter on that team, which helped get him ready for the role he now occupies with the Spartans.

"It was a different culture there, definitely, but it was a good opportunity for me to get looked at too," Contrades said. "We had a bunch of scouts come to all of our games, which had a great fan turnout, and we won a championship."

Listed at 5 feet 10, Contrades said his velocity sits in the upper-80s but can touch 90.

He went five innings in the opener at Loyola Marymount, giving up two earned runs on five hits. He struck out seven in 52⁄3 innings last week against Northern Colorado but struggled with his command, allowing four walks and three earned runs on four hits.

SJSU dropped three in a row to preseason West Coast Conference favorite LMU but has since won four of five.

"We’re actually looking good this year," Contrades said. "We’re really young. We’ve got like 17 freshmen on the team and pretty much our whole starting nine on the field is all freshmen, so we’re young, but they got some talent."

Contrades played on the same high school team as current UH senior Kaeo Aliviado, who has homered in his past three games for the Rainbow Warriors.

The two faced each other twice in a game in 2012 when the Spartans and ‘Bows still played in the Western Athletic Conference.

Contrades caught Aliviado’s popout the first time the two squared off, but Aliviado got him back with a single in the next at-bat.

"I just saw him actually when I was home (for inter break)," Contrades said. "I was home and worked out at Saint Louis and it was cool (seeing him). He’s doing pretty good."

Contrades is one of three players from Hawaii playing at San Jose State for Nakama, who graduated from Kaiser High.

Freshman Turtle Kuhaulua, a 2014 Kapaa graduate, is hitting .261 (6-for-23) in six starts in the field and has also pitched in two games, recording two saves with five strikeouts in seven shutout innings.

Lefty Dylan Sugimoto, a 2014 Waipahu alum, has pitched once out of the bullpen and gave up two hits in 2⁄3 scoreless innings.

SOFTBALL

Injury doesn’t slow down Souza

Before enjoying a return to Hawaii, Kimberlee Souza (‘Iolani ’11) savored simply being back on the field.

After helping Washington reach the Women’s College World Series in 2013, Souza suffered a torn ACL the following fall and spent the spring recovering from the injury. Although the injury cost her the 2014 season, Souza doesn’t necessarily count it as a lost year.

"It feels good to be back playing," Souza said. "Injuries happen. I had the opportunity to see the game from another perspective, so that was good."

Souza was back home last week for the Bank of Hawaii Invitational and opened the tournament last Thursday by hitting a tie-breaking home run in the bottom of the sixth inning in the Huskies’ 4-3 win over UCF.

"It was great for our team to be able to win the game ultimately by that home run, but you watch kids do that stuff and you’re like, ‘Yes, the hard work is paying off.’ So it was really cool to see that," UW coach Heather Tarr said.

Souza, a third baseman early in her career, is sharing time at catcher and is hitting .283 with 11 RBIs and two home runs in her return.

"She’s just such a hard-working person, so she probably is way ahead of schedule regarding where normal people would be after this injury," Tarr said.

"She’s just always had this work ethic. She came with it. It was something she was born with and her parents cultivated it."

—Jason Kaneshiro, Star-Advertiser

GOLF

Okino gets third top-10 finish

Washington senior Cyd Okino notched her third top-10 finish of the season, shooting a 1-over 73 on Tuesday to finish in sixth place and help the Huskies win the UC Irvine Invitational.

Okino, a 2011 Punahou graduate, finished at 1 under for the tournament as the fourth-ranked Huskies won their fourth tournament of the year.

» Junior Eimi Koga, a 2013 Moanalua grad, finished at 5 over and in a tie for 25th place in the tournament after struggling to a 77 on Tuesday after following successive even-par rounds.

» Pepperdine junior Marissa Chow (‘Iolani ’12) finished one stroke behind Okino in a tie for seventh place at even par for the tournament.

Chow sandwiched a 2-under 70 between rounds of 73.

» Gonzaga sophomore Ciera Min (Waiakea ’13) shot 75 on Tuesday to drop into a tie for 21st place at 4 over.

» Pepperdine senior Alina Ching (Punahou ’11) finished tied for 30th with Gonzaga senior Alice Kim (University ’11) at 7 over.

—Billy Hull, Star-Advertiser

AROUND THE NATION

Baseball

» Mark Karaviotis, Maui ’13: The Oregon shortstop went 4-for-10 with two doubles, two walks and a run scored in a four-game sweep of New Mexico State last weekend to help the Ducks improve to 7-0.

» K.J. Harrison, Punahou ’14: The Oregon State first baseman went 8-for-18 with two doubles, two homers, seven RBIs and five runs scored to help the Beavers go 3-1 in the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge over the weekend.

» Christian Donahue, ‘Iolani ’14: The Oregon State freshman singled, walked twice, scored three runs and had two RBIs in the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge.

» Tim Arakawa, Moanalua ’11: The Oklahoma State middle infielder batted 5-for-16 with five runs, six RBIs, four walks and two stolen bases to help Oklahoma State go 3-1 in the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge.

» Justin Protacio, Mid-Pacific ’11: The Kansas leadoff hitter went 4-for-16 with three walks, two runs and two RBIs to help the Jayhawks go 2-2 in the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge.

» Kewby Meyer, Kamehameha ’11: The Nevada outfielder went 4-for-14 with two walks, four runs and two RBIs to help the Wolf Pack sweep Fresno State and improve to 7-0 for the first time in school history.

» Beau Branton, Punahou ’14: The Stanford third baseman was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs to help the Cardinal win two of three against Cal State Fullerton over the weekend.

» Rick Nomura, Punahou ’12: The Arkanas second baseman went 6-for-14 with a double and two RBIs in three games over the weekend.

» Ka’ai Tom, Saint Louis ’12: The Kentucky outfielder went 4-for-9 with a double, four walks, three runs and an RBI as the Wildcats lost two of three games against UC Santa Barbara over the weekend.

» Josh Inouye, ‘Iolani ’14: The Santa Clara reliever picked up his first win in 2/3 innings of relief with a walk and a strikeout in a 10-8 win over Cincinnati in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.

» Dane Fujinaka, Mid-Pacific ’11: The Sacramento State catcher started one of the four games against Portland over the weekend and went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and an RBI in a 7-2 victory.

» Ryan Yamane, Punahou ’11: The Northern Colorado second baseman went 2-for-5 with two RBIs in a 6-1 win over San Jose State on Saturday and finished 5-for-11 with a double and two RBIs in three games of the series against the Spartans.

» Scott Peters, Punahou ’11: The Cal Lutheran left-hander threw a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts to improve to 2-0 this season in a 5-0 win over Chapman on Friday.

» Trey Saito, Mid-Pacific ’13: The Cal Lutheran right-hander allowed one run on seven hits in seven innings with two walks and a strikeout to improve to 2-0 this season in a 4-2 win over Chapman in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

» Landry Kiyabu, Hawaii Baptist ’11: The Cal Lutheran reliever picked up his first save in Saturday’s 4-2 win, allowing one run on three hits in two innings with one walk.

» Gabriel Gunter, King Kekaulike ’13: The Cal Lutheran outfielder went 4-for-12 with a double, two runs and an RBI to help the Kingsmen win two of three against Chapman.

» Tanner Nishioka, ‘Iolani ’13: The Pomona-Pitzer sophomore went 3-for-10 with a double, two runs and an RBI in a doubleheader sweep of Redlands on Saturday.

» Todd Takabuki, Moanalua ’11: The Austin College senior went 2-for-2 with a double to raise his average to .615 this season in a 6-2 loss to Castleton on Friday.

» Chadwick Kaalekahi, Campbell ’12: The Lewis & Clark State catcher went 4-for-9 with a double, two walks, two runs and an RBI in a four-game split against Western Oregon over the weekend.

» Raymond Pedrina, Campbell ’13: The Lewis & Clark State centerfielder finished 4-for-13 with three runs and a stolen base against Western Oregon.

Women’s Basketball

» Lia Galdeira, Konawaena ’12: The Washington State junior was 10-for-22 from the field for 23 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals in an 83-72 win over Washington on Friday.

» Dawnyelle Awa, Konawaena ’12: The Washington State point guard had 11 points and three assists against Washington.

» Julia Brand, Punahou ’11: The Willamette (Ore.) forward finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists in an 80-75 win over Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday.

Women’s Gymnastics

» Tiana Montell, St. Joseph’s ’11: The UC Davis senior finished fourth in the all-around with a 38.625 and also placed fourth in both the vault (9.80) and floor (9.800) in a loss to San Jose State on Friday.

» Jenna Frowein, Punahou ’12: The Stanford junior scored a 9.500 on the floor exercise in a loss on Saturday to Utah.

» Tracie Villanueva, Moanalua ’13: The Seattle Pacific sophomore finished fourth on the bars with a 9.80 in a loss to Washington and California on Sunday.

» Kristi Hayashida, Home School ’13: The SPU sophomore scored a 9.70 on the floor exercise on Sunday.

Softball

» Mikela Manewa, Kapolei ’12: The Oregon State junior had four hits and three walks, scored five runs and drove in three to help the Beavers finish 3-2 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic over the weekend.

» Fahren Glackin, Kamehameha ’14: The New Mexico State outfielder finished 3-for-7 with five walks, four runs scored and an RBI to help the Aggies finish 2-3 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

» Brennalyn Nakamura, Lahainaluna ’12: The New Mexico State second baseman hit a two-run homer against Indiana State in a 4-0 win on Friday in the Diamond Devil Invitational.

» Kayla Shimoda, Punahou ’11: The Columbia University senior hit a two-run homer in a season-opening 6-5 loss to UMass-Lowell on Friday.

» Karly Macadangdang, Mililani ’14: The Sonoma State freshman had two hits, stole a base and scored a run in a 5-1 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills in the final game of a four-game series on Saturday.

Women’s Tennis

» Kristen Poei, ‘Iolani ’13: The Cal State Northridge sophomore won in straight sets at No. 6 singles and won at No. 2 doubles to help the Matadors defeat Cal State Fullerton 4-3 on Saturday.

» Alyssa Tobita, Mililani ’14: The Oregon freshman was victorious at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles on both Saturday and Sunday to help the Ducks defeat UC Santa Barbara 5-2 and Santa Clara 7-0.

» Sarah Kukino, Kauai ’11: The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps senior won both of her matches at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles to lead the Athenas to an 8-1 win over Bates and a 7-2 victory over Point Loma on Saturday.

Women’s Water Polo

» Naomi Ng, Punahou ’12: The Villanova junior tallied 10 goals in four matches to help the Wildcats to a perfect 4-0 record at the Villanova Invitational over the weekend.

» Sarina Shibata, Punahou ’12: The Villanova junior finished with five goals in the Villanova Invitational.

» Courtney Miller, Punahou ’12: The UC San Diego goalkeeper made 31 saves in four matches at the UCI Invitational over the weekend, helping the Tritons finish 1-3.

» Lauren Boyer, Punahou ’13: The UCSD sophomore scored three goals in the UCI Invitational.

» Roxy Kiessling, Punahou ’14: The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps freshman scored in the fourth quarter of a 21-2 loss to Hawaii on Thursday.

Compiled by the Star-Advertiser’s Billy Hull. To submit an athlete for publication, email bhull@staradvertiser.com.