UH softball team sweeps twinbill; Coolen wins 600th

The 16th-ranked Hawaii softball team swept a doubleheader to clinch the top seed in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic and give coach Bob Coolen his 600th UH win last night at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The Rainbow Wahine will be the first seed in the bracket portion of the tournament. Hawaii faces Kentucky at noon at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

If the Wahine lose, they'll play either Central Florida or LBSU at 2. If they win, they'll play at 4.

The Wahine hit three homers in the win over Long Beach State. Tanisha Milca opened the scoring with a two-run shot to left in the second inning and Clare Warwick followed with a solo shot. Kate Robinson led off the third inning with another homer.

Robinson also went the distance to earn the win in the opener and drove in two more runs in the nightcap against UCF. Courtney Baughman (2-0) picked up a complete-game win in the nightcap.

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The offseason appears to have done little to soften the offensive punch that powered the Hawaii softball team to a memorable 2007 campaign.

The 16th-ranked Rainbow Wahine rapped out 29 hits, four leaving the park, over the first three games of the season to sweep through the round-robin portion of the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic and give 17th-year coach Bob Coolen his 600th win at UH.

The Wahine, who had 11 hits in a 9-5 win over Kentucky on Thursday, hit three home runs as part of a 13-hit attack in a 5-3 win over Long Beach State in their first game last night at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The Hawaii bats cooled a bit in the nightcap against Central Florida as the Wahine relied instead on defense and the pitching of junior Courtney Baughman in a 3-1 victory.

"We work so hard and they believe in the philosophy we have for them hitting," Coolen said. "The offense we work a lot on and it pays off for us because we are an aggressive team."

The Rainbow Wahine will be the first seed in the bracket portion of the tournament. Hawaii faces Kentucky at noon at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

If the Wahine lose, they'll play either Central Florida or LBSU at 2. If they win, they'll play at 4.

Tanisha Milca, who went 5-for-7 in the doubleheader, opened the scoring against LBSU with a two-run shot to left in the second inning and Clare Warwick followed with another blast, her second of the young season.

"I'm seeing it pretty well and it's easy to hit when there are a lot of people hitting around you," Warwick said. "I'm pretty relaxed -- obviously, that helps.

"It's good to get the first few games out of the way. You build them up so much and once they're gone you can just relax."

Kate Robinson, who hit a UH-record 19 homers last season, posted her first of the year to lead off the third inning. Kaulana Gould added an RBI single in the fourth and the Wahine held off a 49er rally to pick up the win.

Robinson, coming off a 17-1 junior season, went the distance and struck out seven against LBSU to notch her first win of the year.

After breezing through the first five innings, Robinson struggled in the sixth, giving up three runs on three doubles and a two-run homer by Jessica Beaver. The 49ers brought the tying run to the plate, but the rally ended with left fielder Brandi Peiler making a shoestring catch of Jonae Perez's sinking liner.

Hawaii jumped out to the lead against Central Florida on Robinson's two-run single in the bottom of the first.

UCF scratched out a run off Baughman in the fourth, but Milca led off the fifth with a double and eventually scored to pad the UH lead.

Baughman didn't have a strikeout, but scattered six hits and walked one to outduel UCF's Ashleigh Cole, who finished with nine Ks.

"The first two games were offensive displays for us," Coolen said. "I know Central Florida did a nice job scouting us (on Thursday) ... and it was a real close game.

"This is good for us, the pressure, the plays we're making behind our pitchers are real nice. Our pitchers are figuring out what they're capable of and what their limitations are."