The slate is another home-heavy slate. The Rainbow Wahine will open the year with 26 of their first 32 games coming at home in Honolulu.
On the second weekend of the season, Hawai'i will play in Las Vegas at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. That will be the Wahine's lone tournament away from the islands during the regular season. After returning from UNLV on February 19, Hawai'i won't be back on the road until the second weekend of WAC play at New Mexico State, beginning March 30.
The clear highlight of the schedule is UH's own Spring Fling Tournament, which features a trio of heavyweights in California, Texas and Texas A&M. Along with those perennial powers, Hawai'i will host Marist and Winthrop that weekend.
Marist and Radford will each participate in a pair of Hawai'i tourneys on consecutive weekends. Also dotting the home slate: Florida State and DePaul. Among the other teams visiting Honolulu this season: UM-Kansas City, Robert Morris, Seattle and UC Santa Barbara.
In conference play, Hawai'i will play four road series and three at home. After opening league play at home against San Jose State, the Wahine will go on a tricky road trip that takes them to New Mexico State and BYU on consecutive weekends.
Hawai'i will close the home portion of its schedule with what will likely be an emotional series against Fresno State on the last weekend of April. Not only will that series be against the Wahine's top softball rival, but it will also mark the end of an era. The weekend will feature the final home games for Hawai'i as a WAC member before leaving for the Big West Conference next season. And Fresno State will make its final appearance in Honolulu as a WAC member as well, since the Bulldogs will move to the Mountain West on July 1, 2012.
Hawai'i and Fresno State have competed in WAC softball together for 16 consecutive seasons, and the teams' long and storied rivalry began in 1985. The Bulldogs have won 65 of the 84 all-time meetings between the two programs. This will be the third time in the past six years that Hawai'i has hosted Fresno State on Senior Weekend in the Wahine's final home games of a season.
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