Western Washington University Athletics

WWU Career: Appeared in 34 games and made nine starts during five-year Viking career ... Made 19 appearances and seven starts in the circle, pitching to a 7.24  ERA and tallying 25 strikeouts over 39.2IP for her career ... with the bat, collected two career hits and one RBI over 25 ABs ... member of Viking teams that won the GNAC Tournament in 2021 and 2024, as well as winning the West regional championship and finishing as national runners-up in 2024 ... 2024 Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete.

2024 (Senior):

• Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete
• Made 13 appearances and 2 starts, one as a pitcher and one as a designated player.
• Tallied a career-high 14 plate appearances, 11 of them as a pinch hitter.
• Went 2-for-13 with a walk and an RBI.
• Started in the circle in final regular-season home game (4/20 vs. Central Washington).
• Recorded first career base-hit as a pinch hitter against Saint Martin's (3/30).
• Recorded first career RBI on a bases-loaded walk against Simon Fraser (4/6).

2023 (Junior):

• Appeared in 11 games in the 2023 season, making 3 starts.
• Pitched in 28 innings, recording 15 strikeouts.
• Recorded a career single-game high in strikeouts with 3 strikeouts twice; against Simon Fraser (3/11) and against Western Oregon (3/26).

2022 (Sophomore): 

• Appeared in four games and started in two. 
• Recorded five strikes outs in 6.2 innings pitched. 

2021 (Freshman): 

• Appeared in 6 games, making two starts.
• Recorded 5 strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched.

Prior to WWU: A left-handed pitcher out of Newport High School in Bellevue, Hirai (he-rye) was listed by Scorebook Live as one of the top high school pitchers in the state entering the 2020 season ... as a junior in 2019 earned First Team All-KingCo honors registering 120 strikeouts in 98.2 innings of work, while going 10-5 with a 3.19 ERA ... was a two-time WIAA Athlete of the Week during her prep career ... threw a no-hitter vs. rival Issaquah during her junior season ... uncle, Geoff Hirai, is the current head coach at Seattle University.
 
Hirai on Choosing WWU:
"I wanted to stay in state and after taking a campus tour and going to many softball camps at Western, it was clear this was where I wanted to attend college and play softball."
 
Coach Gilmore on Hirai:
"Hanako's work ethic and resolve impressed me – she's a workhorse and likes to put her team on her back. As a lefty pitcher, she brings a different look than the rest of our outstanding pitching staff and she spins the ball well. She also has a strong lefty bat, which we are looking forward to seeing."
 

Year	avg	gp-gs	ab	r	h	2b	3b	hr	rbi	tb	slg%	bb	hbp	so	gdp	ob%	sf	sh	sb-att	po	a	e	fld%
2021....	.000	6-2	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	2	0	1	0	.222	0	0	0-0	0	1	0	1.000
2022....	.000	4-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0-0	0	1	0	1.000
2023....	.000	15-4	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	2	0	3	0	.286	0	0	0-0	0	3	2	.600
2024....	.154	13-2	13	0	2	0	0	0	1	2	.154	1	0	3	0	.214	0	0	0-0	0	0	0	.000
TOTAL...	.080	38-10	25	1	2	0	0	0	1	2	.080	5	0	7	0	.233	0	0	0-0	0	5	2	.714

 

Year	era	w-l	app	gs	cg	sho	sv	ip	h	r	er	bb	so	2b	3b	hr	bf	bavg	wp	hbp	bk	sfa	sha
2021....	6.00	0-1	3	1	0	0/0	0	4.2	7	4	4	2	5	0	0	0	23	.368	1	0	0	0	2
2022....	12.60	0-2	4	2	0	0/0	0	6.2	16	14	12	8	5	3	0	1	45	.471	0	2	0	0	1
2023....	6.00	1-3	11	3	0	0/0	0	28.0	46	32	24	20	15	5	0	0	157	.348	4	1	0	0	4
2024....	21.00	0-1	1	1	0	0/0	0	0.1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	1.000	0	0	0	0	1
TOTAL...	7.24	1-7	19	7	0	0/0	0	39.2	70	51	41	31	25	8	0	1	228	.376	5	3	0	0	8

 

SINGLE-GAME HIGHS [all-time ranking]: Hits: 1, Central Washington, Apr 20, 2024 ; Saint Martin's, Mar 30, 2024 Total bases: 1, Central Washington, Apr 20, 2024 ; Saint Martin's, Mar 30, 2024 RBI: 1, at Simon Fraser, Apr 06, 2024 Runs scored: 1, at British Columbia, Feb 11, 2023 Walks: 1, 5 times Struck out: 1, 7 times At bats: 3, Central Washington, Apr 20, 2024 ; vs Puget Sound, Feb 26, 2021 Innings pitched: 6.0, vs Hawaii Pacific, Feb 18, 2023 Walks allowed: 4, at Northwest Nazarene, Apr 08, 2023 ; at Central Washington, Mar 18, 2023 Strikeouts: 3, at Saint Martin's, Apr 11, 2021 ; Simon Fraser, Mar 11, 2023 ; Western Oregon, Mar 26, 2023 Batters faced: 29, Western Oregon, Mar 26, 2023 Field chances: 2, vs Hawaii Pacific, Feb 18, 2023 Assists: 2, vs Hawaii Pacific, Feb 18, 2023 Runners CS: 1, vs Hawaii Pacific, Feb 18, 2023 ; vs Hawaii Hilo, Feb 19, 2023 ; Western Oregon, Mar 26, 2023   CAREER ALL-TIME RANKINGS: Lowest stolen base against pct.: 15th (.727) Most games finished: t-19th (10) SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Most games finished: t-10th (8 in 2023) Lowest stolen base against pct.: t-15th (.625 in 2023)