JENNINGS, OAKES NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State’s Tiare Jennings and Fresno State’s Mackenzie Oakes have been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 13-19. This is the first honor of the season and fourth of her career for Jennings and the first of the season and fourth overall for Oakes.
Jennings, a senior utility player from Turlock, Calif. (Pitman HS), led the Aggies to a 5-2 record last week. She hit .600 with 12 hits, two doubles, four home runs, five walks, 10 runs scored and an amazing 18 RBI over the seven games. She posted a 1.300 slugging percentage and a .654 on-base percentage for the week. Jennings set the New Mexico State single-game record with eight RBI in a win over UTEP, including a walk-off grand slam to end the game. She went 3-for-3 at the plate and reached base in all five of her at-bats with two walks, a single and a double to go along with the game-ending slam. She also hit two home runs in the same inning against Weber State and hit a homer against No. 24 Nebraska to account for both Aggie runs. With grand slam against UTEP, Jennings moved into second place all-time on the Aggie home run list (44).
Oakes, a senior from Bakersfield, Calif. (Stockdale HS), went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and held opponents to a .049 batting average in two appearances last week. She threw her third career no-hitter in Sunday’s 8-0, six-inning victory over Cal State Fullerton, which was the 66th no-hitter in program history. In her win against the Titans, Oakes induced 14 ground-ball outs, including six that came right back to her in the circle, and had four strikeouts. Not one ball reached the outfield in her flawless performance. In addition to her no-hitter, she also recorded another shutout the day before against Santa Clara in a 7-0 victory. Oakes nearly recorded a no-hitter in that contest, as she didn’t give up a hit until the sixth inning and only allowed two hits in the game. In both of her starts last week, Oakes posted four strikeouts and just one walk in the pair of victories that improved her record to 3-0 this year and lowered her ERA to 0.78.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Delaney Willard of Brigham Young hit .545 with nine RBI and four homers last week ... Hawai‘i’s Sarah Robinson hit .438 with two home runs and 10 RBI as the Rainbow Wahine remained undefeated on the season … Louisiana Tech’s Kendra Harmon hit .385 with five hits … Lauren Lastrapes of Nevada hit .368 with three doubles, a homer and four RBI on the week … San Jose State’s Michelle Cox hit .444 with eight hits and a triple … Kelley Kaneshiro of Utah State hit .625 with five hits, one home run and six RBI on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Brigham Young’s Hannah Howell posted a 3-1 record with 19 strikeouts … Stephanie Ricketts of Hawai‘i went 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 20 strikeouts .... Louisiana Tech’s Michelle Jones went 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA on the week … Mallary Darby of Nevada went 2-1 with a 3.56 ERA and 11 strikeouts ... New Mexico State’s Celisha Walker went 2-0 with a save and 10 strikeouts on the week ... Shelbi Tyteca of Utah State went 2-1 with seven strikeouts.
HAWAI‘I ENTERS TOP 25
After starting the season 12-0, Hawai’i entered the NFCA/USA Today Top 25 poll this week at No. 25. The Rainbow Wahine remained one slot outside of the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll, receiving 28 votes total. Hawai’i has gotten off to its best start in school history, bettering the 7-0 record set last season. The Rainbow Wahine have outscored their opponents 109-11 through the first 12 games, including a 59-0 mark through the first three innings of each game. Hawai’i has won by the eight-run rule six times this season, including the last four straight, and has launched 22 doubles and 18 home runs this season.
RICKETTS NAMED LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
Hawai‘i pitcher Stephanie Ricketts is one of the 30 student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2012 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.
The two-time reigning WAC Pitcher of the Year was named an Easton All-American last season and is Hawai‘i’s all-time strikeout leader. A three-time All-West Region honoree, she has been named an NFCA Scholar-Athlete and Academic all-WAC three times.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot.
NEW MEXICO STATE TO HOST 2012 TOURNAMENT
New Mexico State will host the 2012 WAC Softball Tournament May 9-12 at the NM State Softball Complex. The top six teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament. It is the second time the Aggies have hosted the event, as they did so in 2010, as well.
Top-seeded New Mexico State shut out No. 3-seed Fresno State 5-0 to claim its first-ever WAC Tournament title last season in Fresno.
FRESNO STATE PICKED TO WIN 2012 WAC TITLE
The WAC softball coaches selected Fresno State to win the 2012 WAC regular-season crown. It was the 14th time in the last 17 years that the Bulldogs were the preseason favorite to win the title.
Fresno State had 44 points and three first-place votes, just ahead of Hawai‘i with two first-place votes and 42 points. New Mexico State was third with 37 points and two first-place votes. Brigham Young received the other first-place vote and came in fourth place with 35 points. Nevada, San Jose State, Louisiana Tech and Utah State rounded out the poll.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC/RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
The preseason all-WAC team is composed of the returning all-conference players from last season. Hawai’i placed the most players on the team with four, while Fresno State and New Mexico State had three apiece.
The WAC features nine players who were first team all-conference performers last year. Three come from New Mexico State - Teresa Conrad, Tiare Jennings and reigning WAC Freshman of the Year Valerie Swedberg. Brigham Young returns Carly Duckworth and Jessica Dugas, both of whom were named to the all-Mountain West team last season. Fresno State returns two players (Michelle Moses and Andrea Ortega), while Hawai‘i returns reigning WAC Pitcher of the Year Stephanie Ricketts and reigning WAC Player of the Year Jessica Iwata.
Second team returnees include: Alex Aguirre,Hawai‘i; Janna Frandrup, Louisiana Tech; Erin Jones, Nevada; Allison Lenzora, Utah State; Kelly Majam, Hawai‘i; Brooke Ortiz, Fresno State; and Kassy Uchida, Utah State.
UH’S IWATA NAMED TO PRESEASON PLAYER OF YEAR WATCH LIST
Hawai’i shortstop Jessica Iwata was one of 50 student-athletes selected to the watch list for the 11th annual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award.
Iwata, a two-time WAC Player of the Year, led the Rainbow Wahine last season with a .355 batting average, a .663 slugging percentage and a .447 on-base percentage. Iwata also led UH in runs scored (43), hits (60), home runs (15) and RBI (44), and finished the season on a nine-game hitting streak. She accumulated more multiple-hit games (16) and multiple-RBI games (13) than any other Rainbow Wahine in 2011. Iwata was also voted to the NFCA All-West Region second team for the second straight year and was named a second team Easton All-American last year as a sophomore.
Iwata is just the fourth Rainbow Wahine to ever be selected to the “Top 50 Watch List.” Last season both Melissa Gonzalez and Kelly Majam were chosen to the list. Before that, the only player to ever represent Hawai’i was Kate Robinson in her senior season, 2008.
The award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s collegiate softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by collegiate softball players across the country. The 2012 Watch List is comprised of 23 seniors, 20 juniors and seven sophomores representing 31 universities and 13 conferences.
The Top 25 finalists for the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced April 11. The Top 10 finalists will be announced May 9 and the Top 3 finalists will be announced May 23. On May 29, prior to the start of the 2012 NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City, the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed.