DUHAYLONSOD-KALEIMAMAHU, PARNABY NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Hawai‘i’s Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu and Kaia Parnaby have been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 9-15. This is the first honor of the season and second of her career for Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu and the first honor of the season and fourth of her career for Parnaby.
Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu, a senior first baseman from Mililani, O‘ahu, hit .875 with a double, two home runs and eight RBI to help Hawai‘i regain first place in the WAC standings with three decisive wins over Louisiana Tech. She was 7-for-8 with an amazing 1.750 slugging percentage and .875 on-base percentage while not making an error in 16 innings at first base. In the first game, Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run. She followed by going 5-for-5 in Saturday’s doubleheader. In the opener, she was 3-for-3 with a career-high four RBI en route to a 9-1 win in five innings. Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu capped the series with a 2-for-2 effort with a two-run blast that sailed over the outfield netting.
Parnaby, a junior from Bilgola Plateau, New South Wales, Australia, posted a 0.00 ERA in one appearance last week. In the series finale against Louisiana Tech, she threw a one-hit shutout, striking out seven over five innings. Parnaby gave up just one hit to the leadoff batter of the game then did not give up another hit all game. It marked her seventh shutout of the year and improved her record to 13-2 on the season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Delaney Williard of Brigham Young hit .500 with three doubles, one triple, one homer and 11 RBI ... Fresno State’s Brooke Ortiz hit .250 with a double on the week ... Sam Puzey of Nevada hit .429 with two home runs and six RBI ... New Mexico State’s Shaleese Javillo hit .600 on the week ... Annica Wolfe of San Jose State hit .600 last week ... Hailey Froton of Utah State hit .400 with a double and three RBI on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Tori Almond of Brigham Young went 2-0 with a 1.66 ERA and 11 strikeouts last week ... Fresno State’s Michelle Moses went 1-1 with a 1.11 ERA and 13 strikeouts ... Karlyn Jones of Nevada went 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA in two appearances on the week ... New Mexico State’s Celisha Walker went 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA last week ... Amanda Pridmore of San Jose State went 1-1 with a 1.00 ERA and 11 strikeouts on the week ... Dani Chaplin of Utah State went 1-2 with 19 strikeouts last week.
WAC HAS FIVE TEAMS IN TOP 100 RPI
In the most recent NCAA RPI released April 16, five WAC schools are in the top 100, led by Hawai‘i at 14. Also ranked in the top 100 are Brigham Young (35), Fresno State (65), San Jose State (94) and New Mexico State (100).
BYU’S WILLARD ONE OF 25 FINALISTS FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Brigham Young senior outfielder Delaney Willard is one of the Top 25 finalists for the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. A two-time WAC Hitter of the Week this season, Willard ranks in the top 20 nationally in several different offensive categories. This year’s Top 25 is comprised of 13 seniors, seven juniors, four sophomores and one freshman. The student-athletes selected represent 17 NCAA Division I universities and eight athletic conferences.
Ten finalists will be announced on May 9, three finalists will be announced May 23, and the winner will be revealed May 29. The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award is voted on by coaching representatives from 11 Division I Conferences in the 15 ASA Regions as well as members of the media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country.
RICKETTS ONE OF 10 FINALISTS FOR LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Hawai‘i pitcher Stephanie Ricketts is one of the 10 student-athletes selected as finalists 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.
Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to determine the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award website through May 14. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I softball head coaches’ votes to determine the winner. The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the original list of 30 candidates announced in February.
Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award® winner during the 2012 NCAA Women’s College World Series, which will be held May 31-June 6 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
JENNINGS CLIMBING WAC CAREER OFFENSIVE CHARTS
New Mexico State senior Tiare Jennings ranks in the top 10 in the WAC several different career offensive categories. She ranks fifth all-time in home runs (47) and RBI (180), sixth in runs scored (185) and ninth in total bases (419).
RICKETTS LEAVING MARK ON WAC CAREER PITCHING MARKS
Reigning WAC Pitcher of the Year Stephanie Ricketts ranks in the top 10 in three different WAC career pitching categories. She is third all-time in wins (96), fourth in innings pitched (874.0) and tied for sixth in strikeouts (771).
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.
BRIGHAM YOUNG COUGARS (28-12, 7-3 WAC)
The Cougars fell 4-7 at Idaho State last Monday, defeated Utah Valley 3-1 last Wednesday, then swept the three-game series against Utah State, 15-6 (6), 2-0 and 6-4, last weekend ... Delaney Willard had the game-winning hit vs. Utah Valley, a bases-clearing, three-RBI double in game one vs. the Aggies and hit the game-tying home run in the seventh inning of the finale ... Stacie Toney hit two walk-off home runs last week ... BYU’s 12 walks drawn in game one vs. Utah State was one shy of the program record ... JC Clayton and Jessica Dugas drew three walks each that game, both career highs ... The Cougars’ five doubles in the 15-6 win over USU was a season high ... As a team, BYU ranks 21st nationally in scoring (5.9), and 34th in both batting average (.302) and winning percentage (.700) ... Willard, who was named one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, ranks second in the nation in RBI per game (1.5), sixth in slugging percentage (.939), 11th in batting average (.447), 13th in home runs per game (0.35), 15th in on-base percentage (.542) and 40th in doubles per game (0.3) ... The Cougars play three games at Louisiana Tech this Friday and Saturday.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (28-17, 8-2 WAC)
The Bulldogs fell 3-4 to Cal Poly in 10 innings last Monday, then split a doubleheader with San Jose State on Sunday, 1-0 and 1-2 ... Brooke Ortiz extended her hitting streak to nine games, the longest of her career and tied for the second longest on the team this season ... Michelle Moses threw her 10th shutout of the season at San Jose State, her sixth one-hitter of the year ... Brenna Moss hit her WAC-leading fifth triple at SJSU ... Moses has a WAC-best 15 home runs this year to give her 56 for her career, good for third place all-time in WAC history ... As a team, Fresno State ranks 13th nationally in triples per game (0.31), 20th in double plays per game (0.42) and 49th in fielding percentage (.967) ... Moses ranks fourth in the nation in shutouts (10), eighth in home runs (15), 17th in strikeouts (195), 19th in home runs per game (0.33) and 28th in wins (18) ... Moss ranks ninth in the nation in triples (5) and 16th in triples per game (0.11), while Stesha Brazil is 14th in triples (4) and 38th in triples per game (0.09) ... Andrea Ortega is 47th nationally in toughest to strikeout (19.5) ... The Bulldogs host New Mexico State for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.
HAWAI‘I RAINBOW WAHINE (35-4, 9-2 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine swept the series against Louisiana Tech last weekend, 9-1 (6), 9-1 (5) and 8-0 (5) ... Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu hit .875 with a double, two home runs and eight RBI ... In the finale, Kaia Parnaby threw a one-hit shutout ... UH hit a combined .426 with eight home runs while outscoring the Lady Techsters 26-2 ... It was the team’s 11th, 12th, and 13th mercy rule wins this season ... As a team, Hawai‘i ranks third in the nation in ERA (1.02), fifth in winning percentage (.897), sixth in home runs per game (1.41), 11th in fielding percentage (.976), 13th in slugging percentage (.504) and 14th in scoring (6.23) ... Stephanie Ricketts ranks second in the nation in ERA (0.95), fifth in hits allowed per seven innings (3.94), sixth in wins (22), 15th in shutouts (8), 26th in strikeouts (182) and 46th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.9) ... Parnaby ranks 10th nationally in ERA (1.14), 22nd in shutouts (7) and 30th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.63) ... Kelly Majam is 17th in the nation in runs per game (1.08), 34th in walks per game (0.74) and 41st in homers per game (0.28), while Jessica Iwata is 27th in RBI per game (1.03) ...Hawai‘i plays a three-game series at Nevada this weekend.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (18-23, 5-6 WAC)
The Lady Techsters fell 0-3 at Northwestern State last Tuesday, then dropped all three games at No. 14 Hawai‘i last weekend, 1-9 (6), 1-9 (5) and 0-8 (5) ... For the week, Louisiana Tech was out-hit 33-10 and had 28 strikeouts ... Meghan Knowles led the team with a .375 batting average and one home run over the four games ... Janna Frandrup ranks 17th in the nation in walks per game (0.83) and 43rd in toughest to strikeout (20.4) ... The Lady Techsters lead the WAC in assists (397) and caught stealing by (12) ... Frandrup leads the WAC in walks (34), walks per game (0.83), fewest strikeouts per game (0.12), hits allowed (42), runs allowed (22), earned runs allowed (9), and doubles allowed (3), ranks second in on-base percentage (.514), third in ERA (1.51) and walks allowed (17), fourth in games finished (9), fifth in home runs allowed (5), seventh in batting average (.343) and opponent batting average (.247), eighth in games in relief (9), and 10th in RBI per game (0.61) ... Louisiana Tech hosts Brigham Young for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (16-28, 6-6 WAC)
The Wolf Pack split a doubleheader at UTEP last Thursday, 0-2 and 9-2, then went 2-1 (7-6, 8-7 and 4-12) at New Mexico State last weekend ... Sam Puzey hit .429 with two home runs last week. She registered an RBI in each of the three conference games with five total against New Mexico State ... Karlyn Jones went 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA last week. In 12 total innings, she allowed just two runs while striking out nine with zero walks ... As a team, Nevada ranks 43rd nationally with 0.23 triples per game ... Megan Fincher ranks fourth in the nation in sacrifice flies (4), while Mallary Darby ranks 29th in walks allowed per seven innings (1.32) ... Sara Parsons ranks 29th nationally in doubles per game (0.32), while Jones is 21st in saves (3) ... Karley Hopkins leads the WAC in assists (111) and plate appearances (170), ranks second in at bats (150) and fourth in hits (41) ... Parsons leads the WAC in doubles (14) and doubles per game (0.32) ... Chelsea Barilli leads the WAC in sacrifice bunts (6), ranks fourth in stolen bases (8) and tied for fourth in triples (2) ... Nevada hosts No. 14 Hawai‘i for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (20-24, 1-11 WAC)
The Aggies defeated instate rival New Mexico 9-1 in five innings last Tuesday, then went 1-2 (6-7, 7-8 and 12-4) against Nevada last weekend ... The win over the Lobos snapped a 10-game losing skid for NM State ... Ana Tovio-Asato had four doubles and one home run on the week ... As a team, the Aggies rank 47th nationally in scoring (5.16) and 50th in home runs per game (0.84) ... Alex Newman ranks 21st in the nation in saves (3), while Amber Olive is 31st in toughest to strikeout (24.3) ... Tiare Jennings is fifth all-time in WAC history in home runs (47) and RBI (180), sixth in runs scored (185) and ninth in total bases (419) ... As a team, New Mexico State leads the WAC in saves (5), hits (342), doubles (58), total bases (523) and plate appearances (1362), and ranks second in batting average (.290), slugging percentage (.443), RBI (202) and home runs (37) ... Olive leads the WAC in hits (57), ranks fourth in batting average (.390), fifth in at-bats (146), eighth in stolen bases (7) and 10th in plate appearances (152) ... The Aggies play a three-game series at Fresno State this Friday and Saturday.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (22-20, 6-4 WAC)
The Spartans split a doubleheader with Fresno State on Sunday, 0-1 and 2-1 ... Annica Wolfe had the team’s only hit in the loss ... BranDee Garcia drove in both Spartan runs in the win ... Amanda Pridmore threw both games, striking out 11 ... Pridmore ranks third all-time on the San Jose State career strikeout list with 396 and tied for seventh on the single-season list with 142 ... Jessica Garcia ranks fourth nationally in sacrifice flies (4), while Pridmore is 21st in saves (3) and Michelle Cox is 49th in stolen bases per game (0.46) ... The Spartans lead the WAC in sacrifice flies (12) and runners picked off (3), and rank second in doubles (55) and stolen bases (39) ... Cox leads the WAC in stolen bases (18), while Markesha Collins is third (11) ... Collins also ranks fifth in the WAC in runs (31) and seventh in walks (22) ... Pridmore ranks second in the WAC in saves (3), third in strikeouts (142), innings pitched (144.1) and wins (13), fourth in opponent batting average (.195) and fifth in ERA (2.18) ... The Spartans host No. 16 Stanford for a single game on Tuesday, then play a three-game series at Utah State this Friday and Saturday.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (14-28, 2-10 WAC)
The Aggies defeated Utah Valley 8-7 last Tuesday, swept a doubleheader against Weber State on Wednesday (7-4 and 10-3), then dropped a three-game series at Brigham Young last weekend, 6-15 (6), 0-2 and 4-6 ... Hailey Froton hit .400 over the six games with two home runs, eight RBI, 15 total bases and a .750 slugging percentage ... In the second game against Weber State, Shelbi Tyteca became Utah State’s career saves leader with eight. Her four saves this season is tied for the most in Aggie single-season history ... Tyteca ranks seventh nationally in saves (4), while Kelley Kaneshiro is 26th in hit by pitch per game (0.32) and Christine Thomsen is 49th in batting average (.412) ... Thomsen leads the WAC in putouts (314), ranks second in batting average (.412), third in hits (49) and hits per game (1.20), fourth in on-base percentage (.489), seventh in total bases (70), and eighth in slugging percentage (.588) ... The Aggies host Idaho State for a single game on Wednesday, then host San Jose State for a three-game series this Friday and Saturday.