There's little routine about the Hawaii softball team's schedule these days.

Yesterday marked two full weeks since the Rainbow Wahine left for the mainland, as the travel party moved into its fourth hotel of the road trip.

Today they'll leave Northern California, stop in Phoenix, then hop a flight to Birmingham, Ala. It'll be close to midnight by the time they pull into Tuscaloosa, Ala., where they'll face top-seeded Alabama in an NCAA super regional starting Friday.

But even amid the travel-related chaos, the Wahine are working to maintain a sense of normalcy.

After beating Texas Tech to win the Stanford, Calif., regional on Sunday, the team got back to work with weight lifting and running on the Stanford campus yesterday.

“;It helps us stay focused,”; senior catcher Katie Grimes said of sticking to the routine. “;Today it was like another day and everybody was focused on lifting and getting ready for what's next.”;

UH head coach Bob Coolen said the team regularly follows a weekend tournament with a Monday conditioning session, although he didn't need to force the issue.

“;They're the ones who wanted it,”; Coolen said. “;They said we don't want to take any days off that we don't need to take. That comes from the seniors on down.”;

The UH seniors will lead the 16th-seeded Rainbow Wahine into a Southeastern Conference ballpark for a super regional for the second time in four years.

The best-of-three series between the Wahine (47-13) and Crimson Tide (51-9) is set for Friday and Saturday at Alabama Softball Complex. Friday's game will be shown on ESPN or ESPNU starting at 12:30 or 1:30 p.m. Hawaii time. Saturday's games are scheduled to air on ESPN. The first game is set for 11 a.m., with the finale to follow if necessary.

The series matches a UH team that has hit an NCAA-record 149 home runs against the No. 1 Crimson Tide. Alabama is riding a 27-game winning streak, led by pitcher Kelsi Dunne (29-4), who has 332 strikeouts in 199 2/3 innings.

Grimes was a freshman starter in 2007 when UH played at Tennessee in the super regionals. UH lost the opener but forced a decisive third game before falling a win short of a berth in the Women's College World Series.

“;I know exactly what it's like going into an SEC house,”; Grimes said. “;They're going to have their crowd and they're going to be loud and we're going to have our cheering section.”;

The UH section figures to be surrounded by an Alabama fan base that set an NCAA attendance record this season. The Tide have drawn 71,424 fans to Alabama Softball Complex (capacity 3,095) this season and the 7,140 attending last week's regional topped the 16 sites.

The Wahine will have two days to acclimate in Tuscaloosa prior to facing the Crimson Tide. For now, though, simply getting there is the next step in UH's postseason journey.

“;It's something they're accustomed to,”; Coolen said. “;They're making memories right now.”;