It is not easy to define awesome.

To prepare his softball team for today's Super Regional opener against Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott, Hawai'i head coach Bob Coolen decided to make a direct pitch.

He did it from 38 feet — five feet closer than the normal distance between the pitching rubber and home plate.

"Monica Abbott can bring it," said Coolen, who served as the Rainbow Wahine's pitcher during yesterday's practice at Tennessee's Tyson Field. "I moved up to 38 feet and just threw a lot of hard riseballs."

Even from that distance, Coolen's pitches could not match Abbott's riseball, which travels at 71 mph, roughly the speed of blur.

"But at least it gives them an idea of what adjustments they need to make," Coolen said. "They need to quicken their hands. They need to see the ball earlier. They can't let the riseball get over their bat."

Abbott, like Coolen, is left-handed. But at 6 feet 3, Abbott is taller. In the conversion chart, her riseball has the velocity of a 98-mph fastball in baseball.

"If you let a good pitch go by, and she gets ahead in the count, then you're in trouble, because you're chasing," Coolen said. "That's why you have to be aggressive. You can't let her get ahead in the count, which she's good at."

In softball, pitches are fueled by forearm strength and the wrist snap. Abbott, who is 44-3 with 629 strikeouts in 302 innings, possesses both qualities.

"She's got some heat," said designated player Tyleen Tausaga, who leads the Rainbows with a .410 average. "We know she's going to bring it. We're ready for it."

The Rainbows had a productive two-hour practice yesterday on the Volunteers' home field, which is bracketed by an overhead freeway beyond the left-field fence.

"It's a ballpark thrown in near the freeway in the middle of nowhere," Coolen said of the off-campus facility.

The Rainbows launched several long home runs. Backup infielder Julie Franklin hit a drive that landed on the freeway. "We were hitting some bombs," Tausaga said.

And that could be today's script: Abbot's power versus the Rainbows' power. The Rainbows have hit a Western Athletic Conference-leading 80 home runs in 60 games. Pitcher/first baseman Kate Robinson has 18 homers; Tausaga has 15.

The Rainbows credit their power surge to an intensive offseason conditioning program and their new Easton Stealth bats, two-piece clubs that provide a springy boost on contact.

By qualifying for the NCAA postseason, the Rainbows were rewarded with five new Stealth bats. They have used them for about a week.

"The kids like the pop on them," Coolen said. "The balls come off really well."

The Volunteers counter with a progressive lineup — slap-hitters at the top of the order, free-swingers after that. But the strategy could change depending on the availability of left fielder India Chiles, who was diagnosed Wednesday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. Chiles, who is batting .466 with 43 steals in 45 attempts, is the Southeastern Conference's Player of the Year.

"They usually play small ball to big ball," Coolen said. "If they don't have India, they're more of a big-ball team. They're going to go up there hitting."

Two other Volunteers are hitting better than .400. Tiffany Ruff has a team-high 10 homers.

For the first game in this best-of-three series, the Rainbows will turn to Justine Smethurst, who has re-emerged as the ace. In the postseason, Smethurst is 3-1 with a 0.93 earned-run average and 33 strikeouts in 30 innings.

Coolen said Smethurst's effectiveness is related to the Rainbows' schedule. They played 59 games through April 7, but 11 in the past seven weeks.

"Juzzy is fresh right now, more so than some of the other pitchers around the country," Coolen said.

Smethurst also has been able to recover quicker. During the WAC Tournament in Fresno two weeks ago, the dry heat caused the skin on her fingers to crack. She has not had a recurrence in two practices in Knoxville.

"The weather is good," she said. "And it's nice that we will be playing at night because the sun will be down and it won't be so hot. The weather will be perfect, just like home."

She also said her right foot, which she drags during her windup, is not experiencing problems anymore.

Coolen said the players who were suffering from recent stomach ailments are now fine.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.