Irimata’s gem helps Hawai’i hold off UC Santa Barbara in Big West quarterfinal

After waiting a day to get active in the 2026 Big West Softball Championship tournament, the No. 2-seeded University of Hawai’i softball team took care of business on Thursday with a 2-0 victory over No. 3 UC Santa Barbara at Anderson Family Field on the campus of Cal State Fullerton.

Sophomore RHP Taryn Irimata, named the 2026 Big West Pitcher of the Year on Tuesday after leading the conference in ERA, spun a complete-game shutout on the way to punching UH’s ticket into Friday’s tournament semifinal round against top-seeded Cal State Fullerton.

Thursday was the first time that UCSB’s offense was held completely off the board in over a month, last going scoreless on April 4 in the first game of a doubleheader in the islands against the Rainbow Wahine. The Gauchos saw Irimata twice during the regular season, tagging UH’s star pitcher for four earned runs each time while taking two out of three in the series against Hawai’i.

The postseason presented different results for both sides as Irimata masterfully worked around nine hits by UCSB throughout the seven frames, keeping the Gauchos without a single run as she racked up four strikeouts while improving her record to 13-8 overall on the year.

Irimata pointed to the support of her defense, specifically the communication with her infielders, for the change in results.

“They talked to me every pitch, just kept me in the game,” the sophomore said during a postgame interview with ESPN+ following the win. “I knew they were going to come up clutch for me and so that helped me get through the game.”

Hawai’i (30-18) provided the standout pitcher with the early run that she needed with a pair of doubles in the first inning, getting a leadoff two-bagger from 2B Carys Murakami before 1B Millie Fidge delivered an RBI double just inside the third baseline with two outs to put the Rainbow Wahine ahead, 1-0.

Murakami helped Hawai’i add an insurance run in the next frame after the Rainbow Wahine put some traffic on the base paths with two outs. After Rhea Furtado drew UH’s second walk of the 2nd inning, Murakami smacked an RBI single to center to make it a 2-0 advantage through two full stanzas.

UC Santa Barbara threatened to strike back in nearly every inning, putting a runner in scoring position in all but the first and sixth frames. The Gauchos brought the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Irimata tallied her fourth and final strikeout of the afternoon to close out the victory for the Rainbow Wahine.

Hawai’i will take on top-seeded Cal State Fullerton on Friday, May 8 and 10 a.m. HT with the winner earning a spot in the Big West Championship with two chances to win once. The Rainbow Wahine went 1-2 during the regular season against the Titans, beating CSUF in the opener of the three-game set in the islands and dropping both ends of the weekend doubleheader in close finishes.

“I think if we just go out there with the same energy, have fun, play hard and do what we know how and play as a team … we’ll be just fine,” Irimata said ahead of the rematch with the regular season conference champions.