Brianna Lopez’s first catcher certainly approves of her current battery-mate.

Lopez was 6 when she first started throwing to her father, Ramiro, as she took her initial steps into softball. The elder Lopez remained a constant behind the plate for her lessons with pitching coaches, eventually putting on full gear when Brianna’s velocity and movement picked up in high school.

He’s recently “hung up the cleats” as his daughter’s offseason bullpen catcher but still plays along mentally as he watches Brianna, now a University of Hawaii sophomore, work with Rainbow Wahine catcher Izabella Martinez.

“I think that pitcher-catcher relationship is great,” Ramiro said. “The way they communicate, they’re more like sisters.”

Close to inseparable on and off the field, Lopez and Martinez have developed an undeniable bond over their two seasons at UH and both celebrated landmark performances over the past two weekends.

“We do everything together,” Martinez said. “We eat together, we watch movies together, we play Mario Kart together. There’s not a time that I’m not with her and we’re not together talking back and forth.”

Two weeks ago, Martinez, who calls her own pitches, was on the receiving end of Lopez’s first collegiate no-hitter in a 3-0 UH win over UC San Diego at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Lopez delivered the gem less than 24 hours after surrendering the tiebreaking home run in a loss to the Tritons, bouncing back to face just one batter over the minimum while striking out eight, and shared an emotional embrace with Martinez after the final out.

“It was probably the best feeling I’ve had this season,” Martinez said. “I’m always so proud of her. I love the kid. She’s an amazing person, and getting to share that with her was something really special.”

Then last weekend, Martinez went 7-for-10 with a double and a home run to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a series win at Cal Poly and earned her first Big West Field Player of the Week award. Her surge in San Luis Obispo pushed her into the team lead with a .373 batting average and seven doubles. She’s second with 27 runs batted in and third with five home runs.

“It’s awesome,” Lopez said of Martinez’s first conference award. “I know how much of a hard worker she is and she never really asks for much on and off the field. Knowing how hard she works on the field, and academically as well, … (I told her), ‘If anybody’s going to get it, it’s you. There’s nobody more deserving.’”

Coming off the back-to-back series wins, UH (24-14, 7-5 Big West) returns home for a three-game set against UC Riverside (15-22, 2-10) starting today at RWSS.

UH enters the week tied for fifth in the conference and two games behind Big West co-leaders UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State and will face UCR in a single game today and a doubleheader on Saturday.

The series will have personal significance for Lopez, who grew up in Riverside, Calif., and went to high school about 10 minutes away from the UCR campus.

“Good relationships with everyone on that team. … I’ve known (the UCR coaches) since I was 14 or 15,” Lopez said. “They’ll always hold a special place in my heart. They’re great coaches, great people on and off the field.”

Lopez, a first-team All-Big West pick last season, enters the series with UCR at 12-7 with a 2.17 earned-run average and has thrown five shutouts, most notably the no-hitter against UC San Diego two weekends ago.

Following the 4-1 loss to the Tritons in the series opener, Lopez’s customary postgame phone call home helped reset her focus going into her start on April 1 at RWSS.

“I just reassured her, ‘You know exactly what to do, you’ve been doing this for a long time, and just go out there with a clean mindset do what you do,’” Ramiro Lopez said of his message that evening.

The Friday night frustration seemed distant less than 24 hours later as the emotions flowed in Brianna’s call with her father and mother, Noemi, following the no-no. Her parents were able to watch from home with the series streamed back to the continent in UH’s first televised games of the season.

“I really look back and I’m like, ‘Wow, he really put everything into it,’” she said of her father. “So me playing here is kind of giving back to him. I think that’s why I was so emotional after that game. All the hard work really paid off, and I knew they were watching at home. I knew they were with me.”

Likewise, Martinez’s performance last week in San Luis Obispo, Calif., was sweetened by having her family in the stands for the series at Cal Poly. Along with her offensive production, Martinez also guided Lopez and freshman Key-annah Campbell-Pua to pitching victories and threw out two runners attempting to steal.

“Everything is to them,” Martinez said of her family, “and it means so much to me to bring (the Big West award) home to them especially, and back to the school, and my coaches, and my teammates and all the fans here too.”

Martinez said she’s been calling pitches since her high school years and savors the “chess game” with opposing batters. She earned the confidence of UH coach Bob Coolen last season to take control of the game behind the plate.

“It really does mean a lot,” Martinez said of the responsibility. “It shows they have respect for me as an athlete, but it just means the world to me that they trust me.”

Big West softball

At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium

UC Riverside (15-22) vs. Hawaii (24-14, 7-5)

>> When: Today, 6 p.m.; Saturday (doubleheader) 4 p.m.

>> TV/Radio: none