Ka’ena Keliinoi has played some unexpected roles of late.
The University of Hawaii sophomore hadn’t played third base since her freshman year of high school before the Rainbow Wahine softball team’s coaching staff summoned her in from left field two weeks ago.
Then last weekend, Keliinoi, at 5-foot-4 and hitting ninth in the UH order, emerged as a power threat to lead the Wahine to a rout at UC Santa Barbara in their Big West opener.
After taking two of three games to begin the conference schedule, the Rainbow Wahine return home this week with Keliinoi looking to contribute in whatever capacity is asked of her.
“I just want to be on the field … I want to help my team produce,” Keliinoi said. “I just want to do my part so we can all succeed together.”
Hawaii (8-10, 2-1 Big West) opens a three-game series with Cal State Northridge (13-17, 3-0) today at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The Wahine and Matadors meet in a single game today at 6 p.m. and play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2 p.m.
Keliinoi entered the Big West schedule with just one run batted in, but she threatened the school record when she drove in seven runs in UH’s 13-2 win in last Saturday’s series opener at UCSB.
She came up with the bases loaded in the top of the first inning and cleared them with a double to right center. Given another opportunity with three runners on in the second, this time she cleared the fence for her first collegiate grand slam and the second home run of her UH career.
“It was pretty awesome, I haven’t felt my swing like that in a long time,” Keliinoi said.
Keliinoi credited the guidance of UH assistant coaches Kaulana Gould and Dee Wisneski in helping her go with the pitch on the outside half.
“Coach Lanz and Dee really worked with us hitting out in front and I saw it and I was, ready, set, go. It’s now or never,” Keliinoi said.
Keliinoi’s RBI outburst came up one shy of the program record set by Jessica Iwata in 2010 and matched by Sharla Kliebenstein in 2013. She enters this weekend’s series with CSUN third among UH’s regulars in batting average (.317) and OPS (.827).
Hitting ninth in the order, ”I don’t think (opponents) would see me as that kind of hitter. But the coaches believed in me and I believed in myself and it’s been a long journey for me to gain that confidence back in the swing.”
Keliinoi was a two-time first-team All-State catcher at Saint Francis and spent most of last season behind the plate after playing second base as a freshman in 2020.
She began this season as UH’s starting left fielder and moved back to the infield when the Wahine were running thin at third base during a doubleheader to close their most recent homestand.
In mulling their options, Wisneski suggested the move to head coach Bob Coolen.
“Dee goes, ‘Ena, she can play third,’” Coolen recalled. “I go, ‘I have never seen Ena play third.’ She (said), ‘Bob, trust me, she can play third.’ ”
Keliinoi grabbed her infielder’s glove and moved to the infield in the third inning against Oklahoma, then got the start at third against Cal in the final game of the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic.
“Coach Dee gave me a heads up, ‘Hey you may have to go to third. I was like, ‘OK, I’m ready,’ ” Keliinoi said. “I hadn’t played third since maybe freshman year of high school, but it was fun. I’m still learning … but wherever they need me to go I’ll be ready to play whatever situation they need.”
She handled her first five chances against the Golden Bears before a throw sailed on her sixth. But her solid play led Coolen to keep her at third for last week’s series.
“She has taken over third base,” Coolen said. “She has done a real nice job.”
After setting a season high in the opener at UCSB, the scoring slowed over the next two games. Freshman Haley Johnson’s first career homer highlighted a 4-3 win in the second game, but the Wahine closed the series with a 1-0 loss. Freshman Brianna Lopez allowed three earned runs in 14 innings last week to lower her ERA to 1.93, good for second in the Big West.
“We have to keep producing so our pitchers are comfortable, because they are pitching one heck of a game,” Keliinoi said. “They are doing their job, so we have to do our job.”
Big West softball
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Cal State Northridge (13-17, 3-0 BWC) vs. Hawaii (8-10, 2-1)
>> When: Today, 6 p.m.; Saturday (doubleheader), 2 p.m.
>> TV/Radio: None
