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Hawaii shortstop Nawai Kaupe hit her conference-leading 13th home run and the Rainbow Wahine softball team opened its final series of the season with a 6-4 Big West win over UC Davis on Friday in Davis, Calif.
Kaupe broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer to left in the top of the third inning. Senior right fielder Mikaela Gandia-Mak added a two-run double later in the inning and third baseman Kaena Keliinoi gave UH a 6-1 lead with an RBI infield single in the sixth.
UC Davis rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth, cutting the gap to two on shortstop Libbie McMahan’s two-run homer. UH freshman Brianna Lopez retired the Aggies in order in the seventh to close out the victory. Lopez (14-7) gave up six hits, struck out five and walked one in her 18th complete game of the season.
The Wahine (23-17, 17-8 Big West) will take a five-game winning streak into today’s season-ending doubleheader with the Aggies (21-29, 9-16).
3 Hawaii players on U.S. men’s roster
Three players with Hawaii ties were named to the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 25-player roster for the Volleyball Nations League this summer.
Former University of Hawaii middle blocker Patrick Gasman joined Olympians Micah Christenson (Kamehameha) and Erik Shoji (Punahou) on the roster. Fourteen players will be chosen for each week’s travel roster. The men’s VNL opens June 7 with the U.S. traveling to Brazil in the preliminary round. The team will also play in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Osaka, Japan. The VNL final round is set for July 20-24 in Bologna, Italy.
Former UH standout Rado Parapunov is on Bulgaria’s roster along with Long Beach State outside hitter Alex Nikolov. The duo earned the past two AVCA National Player of the Year awards.
