UH closing in on
first WAC titleThe Wahine currently have a
three-game lead in the standings
By Cindy Luis The view from home plate to the outfield isn't great at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium; tennis courts, parking structures and outcroppings of rock that recall lower campus' former life as a quarry.
cluis@starbulletin.comThe Hawaii softball team knows exactly how to improve the vista: run up a championship banner on an outfield flag pole. With a three-game lead in the Western Athletic Conference standings, the Wahine can almost see it flying.
"We'd sure like to hoist one, credit us with one league title in the department," said Hawaii coach Bob Coolen. "Co-champs in the Big West was a long time ago."
It was 1994 and the Wahine were a win away from the women's College World Series, losing to Missouri twice. Hawaii has since played another 528 games, switched conferences, and gone to the four more regionals.
But for the Wahine, there has not been a title to call their own. The closest Hawaii came was in 2001 when the Wahine finished a game ahead of Fresno State but lost the championship and NCAA automatic berth to the Bulldogs on win-loss percentage.
Hawaii (29-16, 10-2) has eight conference games remaining, two doubleheaders this week at home against San Jose State, two doubleheaders at Louisiana Tech next week. The Wahine can all but secure the title with a sweep of the Spartans (21-30, 3-7) tomorrow and Saturday.
"I'm feeling good about this last homestand," said Coolen, "but I'm anxious, too. We need to stay focused.
"After our sweep of Tulsa last week, everyone is telling our players how good they are. But we need to play hard, regardless of who the opponent is."
The Wahine had picked up a bit of "Jekyll and Hyde" reputation, but Coolen feels that disappeared in the sweep of Tulsa. Replacing it has been a new-found consistency and confidence.
"It's not a question of finally believing they can win," said Coolen. "They're just playing the type of ball they are capable of and which escaped them on a consistent basis.
"Right now, the team is showing up every game with the same conviction. There's been some question marks, but right now we're playing very loose. It's a good time to be doing what we're doing."
The timing is right, too. The WAC won't have an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament next year because of the new ruling that all schools have to have been members for three years. (This is Nevada's first softball season).
"Our goal is winning the WAC," said Coolen. "We need to stay focused, do the same things we did last week against Tulsa this week and next week. It's a matter now of continuing to execute well."
That was something San Jose State didn't do yesterday when dropping a doubleheader at Pacific. The host Tigers scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh in both nonconference games.
Punahou School product Estee Okumura, a senior center fielder, had a hand in all of UOP's runs. Okumura drilled a two-run walk-off home run to give the Tigers a 2-0 win in Game 1; she had another two-run homer in the second game and scored the game-winner on an error after stealing third.
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