DENVER - Hawai‘i’s Leisha Li‘ili‘i and San Jose State’s Amanda Pridmore have been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 5-11. This is the first-ever honor for both.
Li‘ili‘i, a freshman designated player from Kane‘ohe, O‘ahu (Castle HS), hit .556 (5-for-9) with a double and three home runs for the Rainbow Wahine at the Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament last weekend. Li‘ili‘i recorded 15 total bases as she had an on-base percentage of .600 and a slugging percentage of 1.667. She drove in five runs and scored three and four of her five hits were extra base hits. Li‘ili‘i helped Hawai‘i remain unbeaten on the season and to a program-record 19 straight wins.
Pridmore, a junior from Modesto, Calif. (Modesto HS), posted a 0.00 ERA with 11 strikeouts and three saves in four appearances last week. She became San Jose State’s career saves leader, tying the record last Friday against UC Santa Barbara, then breaking it against James Madison and adding to the record with a save against Cal Poly. Pridmore now has 10 saves in her three-year career, including three this season, which ranks fourth-best in the SJSU single-season record books.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Michelle Moses of Fresno State hit .389 with a double, three home runs and 10 RBI ... Nevada’s Karley Hopkins hit .433 with four doubles and six RBI ... Tehani Kaaihue of New Mexico State hit .438 with a double, a home run and five RBI on the week … San Jose State’s Michelle Cox hit .364 with a double and five stolen bases on the week and broke the SJSU all-time hitting streak record at 19 ... Christine Thomsen of Utah State hit .583 with two doubles on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Fresno State’s Mackenzie Oakes went 3-0 with a 0.36 ERA and 15 strikeouts last week ... Kaia Parnaby of Hawai‘i went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts on the week ... Utah State’s Shelbi Tyteca went 0-2 with 14 strikeouts last week.