Hawaii found itself on both ends of two-hit shutouts in splitting a doubleheader against nationally ranked opponents on Friday.

In her debut with the Rainbow Wahine softball team, sophomore Kanani Aina Cabrales held No. 25 DePaul to two hits in UH’s 8-0 win over the Blue Demons in five innings. 

The Wahine then managed just two singles against Oklahoma All-American Shelby Pendley and the No. 4 Sooners pulled away late in a 7-0 win to close the round-robin portion of the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic. 

UH (2-1) will be the second seed in Saturday’s bracket and will face Saint Mary’s (1-2) at 10 a.m. at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Oklahoma (3-0) takes on DePaul (0-3) at noon. The losers play for third place at 2 p.m., with the championship game to follow. 

Aina Cabrales, who transferred to UH from Georgia Tech, is scheduled to get the start against Saint Mary’s after a quick and commanding outing against DePaul. The right-hander struck out three and walked none while throwing just 51 pitches, 36 for strikes.

"I was confident because I was confident in my teammates," Aina Cabrales said. "I knew they were going to make the plays behind me and that they were going to hit for me." 

Said UH coach Bob Coolen: "I wanted to see Nani pitch under pressure … so this was good to see. She did a nice job of mixing it, popping it and getting ahead."

UH third baseman Kristina Akiona provided the biggest boost with a three-run homer in UH’s five-run outburst in the bottom of the third. 

"The first day was kind of hard getting those jitters out," Akiona said. "Definitely I was more confident today."

Akiona’s homer gave UH a 7-0 lead and the Wahine brought the run rule into effect in the bottom of the fifth when Heather Morales scored from second on Sarina Jaramillo’s single up the middle. 

Coolen said freshman Brittany Hitchcock entered her start against Oklahoma with some tightness in her back, but she managed to work out of trouble early before surrendering the game’s first run on a wild pitch with the bases loaded with two out in the third.

The Oklahoma lead remained at 1-0 through five innings, but the Sooners broke away with a four-run rally in the sixth, capped by Lauren Chamberlain’s two-out, two-run single.

That was more than enough for Pendley, who struck out 10 and walked one.

"Oklahoma’s obviously a good team, but it showed the team what we need to work on," Akiona said. "We’re not always going to get the result we want, but as long was we’re working hard and learning from it, it’s never going to be a bad game."

Mary Connolly, Maxine Rodriguez (4) and Naomi Tellez. Kanani Aina Cabrales and Rachel Lack. W–Aina Cabrales. L–Connolly.

Leading hitters–DePaul: Dylan Christensen, 2B. Hawaii: Keiki Carlos, RBI; Leisha Li’ili’i, 2 RBI; Heather Morales, RBI; Kristina Akiona, HR, 3 RBIs; Sarina Jaramillo, RBI.

Shelby Pendley and Whitney Ellis. Brittany Hitchcock, Heather Morales (6) and Lindsey Willmon. W–Pendley. L–Hitchcock.

Leading hitters–Oklahoma:  Lauren Chamberlain, 2-2, 2 RBIs; Erin Miller, 2-3; Whitney Ellis, 2B; Kady Self, 2-3, 2B, RBI; Callie Parsons, 2B, RBI; Macey Hatfield, 2 RBIs.

Friday’s early games

Saint Mary’s 11, DePaul 9

Oklahoma 17, Saint Mary’s 0 (5 innings)

Saturday’s games

Saint Mary’s vs. Hawaii, 10 a.m.

DePaul vs. Oklahoma, Noon

Third place, 2 p.m.

Championship, 4 p.m.