DENVER ? Hawai?i’s Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu and Fresno State’s Morgan Melloh have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 30-April 5. This is the second honor of the season and seventh career honor for Melloh and the first-ever honor for Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu.
Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu, a freshman designated player from Mililani, O?ahu, led Hawai?i to its first-ever series victory in Fresno, as the Rainbow Wahine went 2-1 against No. 22 Fresno State over the weekend. She hit .583 (7-for-12) and had team highs in hits (7), total bases (8), slugging percentage (.667) and on-base percentage (.643). In the first game, her single in the sixth started the rally that led to her pinch-runner, Alex Aguirre, scoring and putting Hawai?i up 1-0 with an inning to play. In the second game, Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu drove in UH’s second run with an opposite-field RBI single to lift UH to an early 2-0 lead. Then in the 16th, she again started the rally with a single and scored the winning run when Kanani Pu?u-Warren hit a three-run home run to seal the win in the longest game in Hawai?i history. In the series finale, Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double and accounting for half of the team’s offensive production. For the week, she tallied seven of Hawai?i’s 21 hits. She is currently on a five-game hitting streak.
Melloh, a sophomore from Fishers, Ind., went 2-1 with 58 strikeouts and a 0.63 ERA last week. She struck out 47 percent of the batters she faced, allowing only three earned runs in four games. In the first game vs. Pacific last Tuesday, Melloh struck out a season-high 15 batters and had a no-hitter with two outs in the seventh inning before giving up the only hit of the game. It was her fourth one-hitter of the season and her ninth shutout. Melloh earned the victory in game one vs. Hawai?i, striking out 15 batters and allowing no earned runs for the second-straight game. In a 16-inning marathon game two of the series, Melloh entered with one out in the third inning and proceeded to pitch eight perfect innings. She finished the game with a career-high 20 strikeouts in 13.2 innings of work, the longest outing of her career and just two strikeouts shy of the school single-game record. She came in relief in game three vs. Hawai?i, allowing no runs and striking out eight. Melloh currently leads the WAC with 286 strikeouts, 143 more then the next closest pitcher. She also recorded her 700th career strikeout on the week, becoming just the fourth WAC and Bulldog pitcher ever to amass 700 strikeouts in her career.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Kathy Cox of Boise State hit .444 on the week ... Fresno State’s Haley Gilleland hit the game-winning RBI in the Bulldogs’ 2-1 win over Hawai?i ... Amberly Waits of Louisiana Tech hit .545 on the week ... Nevada’s Brittany Puzey hit .571 and extended her hitting streak to 16 games ... Kayla Hayes of San Jose State hit .500 with six RBI on the week ... Utah State’s Jasmine Harris hit .833 with five RBI as the Aggies went 1-1 vs. Utah Valley last week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Boise State’s Aubray Zell earned a complete-game victory in her only appearance ... Stephanie Ricketts of Hawai?i went 2-1 with a 1.62 ERA ... Nevada’s Katie Holverson went 2-0 in a pair of complete game with 13 strikeouts ... Amanda Pridmore of San Jose State went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in a pair of five-inning mercy wins last week.