Utah Valley at Bank of Hawaii Invitational 
Friday-Sunday, Feb. 26-28, 2016  
Honolulu, Hawaii   |   Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Tournament Central Page  |  UVU Game Notes
Live Video
Live Stats: Fri. vs. PSU | Fri. vs. UH | Sat. vs. PSU | Sat. vs. UH | Sun. vs. PSU | Sun. vs. UH  
 

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UVU SOFTBALL HEADS TO HAWAII FOR BANK OF HAWAII INVITE
OREM, Utah – Fresh off of a 3-2 showing at the Mary Nutter Classic in Southern California last week, the Utah Valley University softball team will head to Honolulu, Hawaii this weekend (Feb. 26-28) to take part at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational. The Wolverines will play a total of six games at the three-day, three-team tournament, with two each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
 
UVU will face both the host Hawaii Rainbow Wahine each day as well as the Portland State Vikings. Utah Valley will open the tournament against PSU on Friday at 5:30 p.m. MT/2:30 p.m. HT before facing UH that evening at 8 p.m. MT/5 p.m. HT. The Wolverines and Vikings will then once again square off on Saturday at 3 p.m. MT/noon HT while UVU and the Rainbow Wahine will play in the following contest at 5:30 p.m. MT/2:30 p.m. HT. Utah Valley will then face PSU on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT/10 a.m. HT before closing play at the Hawaii Invite against UH at 3:30 p.m. MT/12:30 p.m. HT.
 
"We are excited to get to Hawaii and looking forward to being able to take Tiani home to play in front her family," said head coach Nikki Palmer. "We're facing some tough competition while where there, but we'll be ready."
 
UVU will enter the weekend with a 4-6 overall record after recording wins over George Washington, Bethune-Cookman and Binghamton last week. Following an 11-1 win over George Washington in the opening game of the Mary Nutter Classic, Utah Valley dropped an 11-4 contest to Notre Dame. The Wolverines then once again split a pair of games on Feb. 20, with a 10-6 setback to Army and an 11-3 run-rule win over B-CU. UVU then closed the weekend with a 5-4 victory over Binghamton in the tournament finale on Sunday.
 
In Sunday's one-run win over the Bearcats, a five-run fifth helped propel the Wolverines to the victory. Trailing 3-0 at the time, Morgan Smith, Tiani Hensley and Brittney Vansway delivered the big hits in the fifth inning. Smith started the scoring with a two-run triple, while Hensley tied the game with an RBI single and Vansway put the Wolverines on top for good with a go-ahead two-run home run.
 
Kellee Ramsey (1-1) earned her first victory of the season in the circle for UVU in the win over BU, as she allowed just two earned runs while scattering eight hits in five innings of work. Bailey Moore then came on in the sixth to record a two-inning save, as she gave up just one hit and one run while striking out two -- including the final batter of the game with the tying run on third -- to preserve the win for the Wolverines.
 
Jaymee Lawton hit .625 (5-for-8) for UVU a week ago with a double, three RBIs and three runs scored, while Smith went 8-for-17 (.471) from the leadoff spot with a pair of extra-base hits, two RBIs, two stolen bases and six runs scored. Smith's final steal of the weekend was a big one, as she became Utah Valley's all-time leader in stolen bases with 41 for her career. The senior speedster, who also holds the school record for triples with 11, recorded the 41st stolen bag of her career to pass Meghan Yocom's (2008-2011) previous UVU record of 40. Smith is now 41-for-47 for her career in stolen bases.
 
Hensley, who hails from Waianae, Hawaii, paces the Wolverine offense on the season with a .417 average, while Vansway leads the way in the power numbers with three home runs, four doubles and nine RBIs. Ramsey fronts the team in the circle with a 1-1 record and a 2.80 ERA.
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Portland State will enter the tournament winless at 0-10 after falling five times at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona the opening weekend and five more last week at the DeMarini Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada. This past weekend, PSU suffered its defeats to CSUN (16-12), Colorado State (9-0), Nevada (4-2), San Jose State (8-0) and UNLV (7-0). The Vikings were picked to finish seventh in the Big Sky Preseason Poll after going 16-35 overall a year ago and 8-13 in league play.   
 
Shae Nelson leads PSU with a .393 batting average while Brianna Celaya is right behind her with a .385 clip. Meagan Hendrix paces the Viking pitching staff with a 6.46 ERA and a 0-3 record.
 
Friday's meeting will mark the 18th all-time ballgame between UVU and PSU. Portland State will enter play with a 10-7 all-time advantage over its former conference counterpart, as UVU and PSU both used to call the Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC) home a couple of years ago.
 
Hawaii will enter the weekend with a 6-6 record after going 2-4 at UNLV's DeMarini Desert Classic last week. Following a 4-2 showing at home the opening week, the Rainbow Wahine fell to BYU (9-1), Oregon State (11-1), Grand Canyon (8-3) and Utah (9-0) in Las Vegas last weekend. UH recorded its wins over Southern Utah (5-1) and Wichita State (6-2). Hawaii was picked to finish third in the Big West Preseason Poll after finishing the 2015 campaign 32-22 overall and 13-8 in conference play.
 
Sarah Muzik paces the Rainbow Wahine at the plate with a .389 average while Kanani Aina Cabrales fonts the pitching staff with a 3-2 record and a 2.45 ERA.
 
UH will enter the weekend with a 3-0 all-time series advantage versus the Wolverines, but this weekend will mark UVU's first-ever trip to the Aloha State.
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
Following the Bank of Hawaii Invite, Utah Valley will continue its preseason tournament play at the San Diego Classic I March 4-6 in San Diego, California. There, the Wolverines will face No. 16 Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Illinois-Chicago, Boston University and Saint Joseph's.