Nawai Kaupe and her Hawaii teammates boarded their flight to California intent on leaving the memory of their last homestand behind.
After being swept in a Big West series in Manoa, the Rainbow Wahine softball team departed for Riverside, Calif., aiming for a fresh start on the road.
“We’re flushing last week and having a comeback mentality,” said Kaupe, the Rainbow Wahine shortstop.
UH is 4-2 on the road in Big West play and opens a series at UC Riverside today at Amy S. Harrison Field. The Wahine (13-14, 7-5 Big West) and Highlanders (18-18, 6-6) play a single game today and a doubleheader on Saturday.
The Wahine entered last week’s home series with Cal Poly tied for first in the Big West. They closed the weekend tied for third after the visiting Mustangs finished off a three-game sweep in Manoa.
“We just weren’t collectively producing as a team. We all know that. We all know we’re better than what we did last weekend,” Kaupe said.
“I think it just matures us as players individually and collectively. We can’t dwell on this past game, we’re focusing on this weekend.”
UH arrived in Riverside tied with UC San Diego, three games behind league leader Cal State Fullerton and two behind Long Beach State. UC Riverside is another game back, tied with UC Davis and Cal Poly.
The Wahine surrendered 27 runs over three games last week and will face a UC Riverside lineup hitting .296 in Big West games, tied with Cal State Fullerton for the conference lead. The Highlanders’ 73 runs scored in 12 league games also tops the conference.
Leilehua graduate Gigi Araki leads the Highlanders with six home runs and an OPS of 1.014, good for fourth in the Big West, just behind UH second baseman Maya Nakamura (1.055) and ahead of Kaupe (1.007). Kaupe homered twice last week to raise her season total to a team-high seven, and Nakamura and freshman Haley Johnson also went deep twice in the series.
UH freshman Brianna Lopez (7-6, 2.37) will look to regain her footing in the circle after giving up 12 earned runs in two starts last weekend after allowing just eight in her previous seven appearances.
UC Riverside’s Chrys Hildebrand (7-7, 4.05) leads the Highlanders and ranks third in the Big West with 123 strikeouts in 862⁄3 innings.
Big West Softball
At Riverside, Calif.
Hawaii (13-14, 7-5 BWC) vs. UC Riverside (15-19, 6-6)
>> When: Today, noon; Saturday (DH), 10 a.m.
>> Video stream: ESPN+
