Game Notes

HONOLULU - The University of Hawai'i softball team opens its 26th season with the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic. UH starts things off against McNeese State on Thurs. Feb. 11 at 6:00 pm while Texas A&M-Corpus Cristi and No.10 Stanford square off at 4:00 pm.

Head coach Bob Coolen enters his 19th season at the helm of the Rainbow Wahine softball program and has his team ready for the 2010 season. The 'Bows return 12 letterwinners from a team that posted a 30-24 overall record and finished a half-game out of first place in the Western Athletic Conference. The returnees are led by four 2009 all-WAC selections in first team first baseman Amanda Tauali'i and second-teamers Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu (DP), Kanani Pu'u-Warren, and 2009 WAC Freshman of the Year Stephanie Ricketts.

The 'Bows have nine newcomers. led by National Fastpitch College Association Junior College All-American transfer Jenna Rodriguez, who will be starting in leftfield and making her presence known on the mound, most likely as a relief pitcher. Also looking to make an immediate impact are true freshmen pitcher Kaia Parnaby and shortstop Jessica Iwata, and redshirt freshman Kelly Majam. Parnaby is an Aussie southpaw who was the youngest player to earn a spot on her country's national team this past summer. Iwata is penciled in to start the season at shortstop after a stellar prep career at Kaua'i High School. Majam is set to maker her long-awaited Rainbow Wahine debut after missing all of last season to a preseason injury.

Hawaii has a challenging schedule in 2010, including 12 teams that advance to the NCAA Regionals last year, including perennial powers Stanford, Oklahoma, Arizona, DePaul, California, Fresno State, and defending NCAA Champions, Washington.