In his two seasons with the University of Hawai‘i baseball team, Kamana Nahaku had mostly blended in the rest of his teammates, a reliable fielding or baserunning option for head coach Rich Hill.
But over the course of the last week, Nahaku has become an undeniable force for the Rainbow Warriors, a player that simply cannot be left out of the lineup after the week he had. In a weekend series at Cal State Northridge, he went 6-for-10 with five home runs and 11 RBI to go with seven runs scored. He was named the Big West Player of the Week on Monday, and then the Golden Spikes Player of the Week on Tuesday, becoming the first UH player since 2021 to earn weekly national recognition.
"It's really special to me, getting the opportunity to find myself in the lineup this year and then finding some success means a lot to me," said Nahaku, who has started 19 games for the 21-6 Rainbow Warriors. "And then especially having all the support for my teammates and hearing them in the dugout cheer me on is just an awesome feeling."
His week started with a game against Division II Hawai‘i-Hilo on March 25. Down 8-7 against UH-Hilo with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Nahaku fought off a full count fastball to beat out an infield single and drive in the tying run. The Rainbow Warriors won in extra innings, avoiding a major upset loss.
He ratcheted up his performance to an unprecedented degree over the weekend at CSUN, earning multiple accolades for his performance in the series.
Nahaku homered in each of his three games against the Matadors, with each performance turning more heads.
The Rainbow Warriors lost in Friday's series opener, but on Saturday, Nahaku's grand slam gave the Rainbow Warriors the lead for good in a 9-3 win.
On Sunday, Nahaku hit three home runs in a historic performance, tying a single-game program record. The Rainbow Warriors entered the ninth inning down 10-4 but exploded for 10 runs, including a two-run Nahaku home run that closed the scoring. The 'Bows won 14-10 after hitting six home runs on Sunday, the most in a single game in program history.
Nahaku is a native of Auburn, Wash., and began his career at Tacoma Community College. Although he is a quarter Hawaiian, he didn't move to the Islands until he joined the UH baseball program.
"It means a lot," says Nahaku. "This is definitely the place I wanted to be. There's no question about that at all. Just getting to see all my family in the stands at the games really means a lot to me."
On Tuesday night against Hawai‘i Pacific, he picked up right where he left off, going 2-for-2 with a double, triple, walk and two RBI with two runs scored and was removed for precautionary reasons in a 10-8 win over the Sharks.
With Nahaku being such a crucial part of the lineup, Hill removed him from the game in order to preserve him for this week's home series against Long Beach State, which runs from Friday to Sunday at Les Murakami Stadium.
"He works extremely hard in the weight room. He reads and studies hitting like no other. I think he's an elite defender," Hill said of Nahaku. "The credit goes to him. He's just been such a hard worker, bought into the visualization and imagery stuff that we're doing and our strength and conditioning program, too."
Long Beach State enters the series 10-16 overall and 4-6 in Big West Conference play, but most recently took two out of three against previously ranked UC Santa Barbara. The regular season is approximately halfway done for the Rainbow Warriors (21-6, 8-4 Big West), who know they have someone in Nahaku to lean on in the stretch run.
"Just trying to take advantage of opportunities and not try to do too much," Nahaku said. "When I first got in there at the beginning of the year, just trying to solidify my name in that lineup and help our team win in any way possible. Then I slowly started to find more success throughout the year."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
