HONOLULU — Saint Mary's Softball begins the 2023 season in Hawaii as they take part in the Paradise Classic, hosted by the University of Hawaii. This is the first time the Gaels have made the trip across the Pacific Ocean for the event since 2019. SMC will play five games over three days, beginning on February 10 with a doubleheader. Utah Tech will be the opponent twice, with the remaining three games taking place against the hosting Rainbow Wahine.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Utah Tech / University of Hawaii
Friday-Sunday, February 10-12
Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium – Honolulu
Live Stats and Tournament Information
 
LAST SEASON
The Gaels spent a lot of time away from home last season, with just 13 games on the schedule taking place at Cottrell Field. Overall, Saint Mary's went 16-31 in a season that saw the Gaels offense struggle to score runs in bunches. That resulted in a lot of narrow defeats that could very easily be switched around this season, should the pitching remain solid. The best stretch of the season came in late March, when the Gaels won six out of eight and saw their opponents score just 19 runs during those eight games. Following the season, Marissa Nishihara was named First Team All-WCC for the first time in her career, while four other teammates took home All-WCC honors.
 
WHAT DOES 2023 HOLD?
One thing is for certain as the Gaels prepare for 2023, their top performers will be different than the ones we saw in 2022. Sasa Koria and Indya Smith were first and third on the team, respectively, in OPS, which leads Nishihara and Alex Casas to lead the offense. Those two led the team in batting average one season ago, and they will surely be fixtures near the top of the lineup all season long. On the pitching side, longtime ace Sofia Earle is gone after four seasons, and that leaves a relatively unexperienced pitching staff left to eat innings. Amongst returning pitchers, Kailey O'Connor and 32.1 innings from last season are the most to return.
 
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
Nishihara enjoyed a breakout season for Saint Mary's last year as she was a force atop the Gaels lineup, and was named preseason All-WCC this year. She led Saint Mary's in a host of offense categories, including batting average (.309), runs (21), total bases (54), and walks (8). She saved her best performances for conference play, where she hit .400 against the league with six runs batted in. Five WCC games were multi-hit games for her, including a four-hit performance at San Diego on April 9.
 
A grand total of 15 players comprise this year's Preseason All-WCC team, with 12 position players and three pitchers earning recognition. Loyola Marymount and BYU pace the conference with four players each, which comes as no surprise considering both teams tied for first place in the Preseason Coaches Poll. San Diego comes in third in the poll, just one vote ahead of Santa Clara. Saint Mary's and Pacific round out the conference field.
 
ABOUT UTAH TECH
Formerly known as Dixie State, the Trailblazers of Utah Tech will play the Gaels twice at the Paradise Classic. Utah Tech knows how to hit the ball, which they need to do to be effective in the Western Athletic Conference. They hit .313 as a team last year and had six players hit over .300. The flip side to this was their staff ERA was inflated at 5.25 as they struggled to keep opponents off the board, leading to their 19-32 overall record. Hannah Hughbanks and Shea Clements were named to the preseason All-WAC team, which is no surprise considering they led the team last year in most major offensive categories. Hughbanks hit .380 and had 17 doubles, while Clements led the team with 10 home runs and had a .374 batting average.
 
ABOUT HAWAII
The Rainbow Wahine will aim for a Big West title in 2023 after being picked to finish third in the preseason coaches poll. They were just above the .500 mark last season, going 23-19 overall with a better 17-10 record in the Big West, which was good for third in the conference. They return sophomore pitcher Brianna Lopez who was named to the inaugural Preseason Team handed out by the conference. She dazzled as a freshman, going 14-8 with a 2.07 earned run average and a .232 opponents batting average. Offense was an area of concern for Hawaii, where they hit just .246 as a team, but they did hit 36 home runs, 13 of which came from the recently-graduated Nawai Kaupe.