For the second weekend in a row, the Hawai`i Hilo softball Vulcans will take on Chaminade in a four-game series. For the second time this season, those games will be played at Kealakehe High School in Kailua-Kona.

Start times for the Saturday and Sunday doubleheaders will be noon each day.

Last Week: The Vulcans are coming off a weekend where they won three of four versus the Silverswords on Oahu. That included dropping their first game of the 2021 season (2-1), but also winning games by the count of 6-3, 3-0, and 5-0. UH Hilo is now 10-1 overall and in the Pacific West Conference. They have a 4.5 game lead over Chaminade in the Hawaii Pod of the PacWest. The Silverswords are 7-7 on the year and in PacWest play.

National Rankings: The Vulcans are starting to get some notice nationally, but in the stat columns but not in the rankings. In the NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Associaiton) national poll, Concordia (17-8) is No. 11 and Northwest Nazarene (20-8) is No. 25. But there isn't much love for west coast teams at all, with only two other schools falling into the category of "Others Receiving Votes"--Western Washington (17-7) and Biola (14-10).

National Statistics: But the Vulcans have put together some impressive numbers in their 11 games. The following are some of those numbers and their national ranking in the NCAA Division II stats.

*No. 1 in fielding percentage (.988)
*No. 1 in double plays per game (.82).
*No. 5 in win-loss percentage (10-1)
*No. 6 in team ERA (1.29).
*No. 14, Valerie Alvarado ERA (0.76)
*No. 17, Leah Gonzales ERA (0.82)
No. 20, Vevesi Liilii 2B per game (0.45).

Vulcan HItting: Individually, Markie Okamoto leads the Vulcans with a .400 batting average and is second on the team in RBI with nine. Vevesi Liilii is battling .390 with a team-best five doubles and 13 RBI, while Darian Obara is hitting a healthy .364 and is second in runs scored with 12. Chloe Domingo is batting .344 and Kiarra Lincoln is also over .300 at .342 with a team leading 14 runs scored, two triples and three stolen bases.

Vulcan Pitching: In the pitching circle, Valerie Alvarado has a 4-0 record with a 0.76 ERA. In 37 innings, she has allowed only 20 hits and has struck out 19. Teams are hitting only .163 against her. Leah Gonzales is 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA. In 17 innings, she has surrendered 12 hits and has fanned 12. Opponents are batting just .197 against her. Sara Bhatt is 3-1 with a 2.17 ERA, with 19.1 innings pitched, 14 hits and 12 K's. Opponent batting average is .209 against the freshman right-hander.

What's Next?: Next weekend, the Vulcans will return to Oahu and Howard Okita Field, this time to take on Hawaii Pacific. To help make up for previous rainouts, a six-game series is scheduled with doubleheaders Friday-Saturday-Sunday (April 23-25), with first pitch slated each day at noon.

PacWest Review: As mentioned previously, the Vulcans (10-1) have a healthy lead over Chaminade (7-7) and Hawaii Pacific (0-9) in the PacWest Hawaii Pod. In the NorCal Pod, Academy of Art is 10-6 (11-9 overall) as is Dominican (11-13 overall). Holy Names is 4-12 in the conference and overall. In the Southland, Concordia is 8-6 in the PacWest (19-8 overall), Biola is 9-7 (14-10 overall) and Azusa Pacific is 5-9 (16-10 overall).