Hawaii Warriors
WAC (43-5, 17-3)
Hawaii’s pitching has led to a great season for the Warriors. However, this is a squad that went 26-3 at home. Playing away from the islands has gone extremely well too, but Hawaii certainly has a big home field advantage. Without that advantage, the Warriors will have to play their best softball. And this is not a team that has faced the toughest of competition lately. They hosted a tournament in mid-March and beat California, but they also lost to Texas and Texas A&M.
Big Wins: 3/3 vs Florida State (2-1), 3/4 vs Florida State (1-0), 3/15 vs California (3-1)
Bad Losses: 3/13 vs Texas (0-4), 3/16 vs Texas A&M (1-3), 3/24 vs San Jose State (2-4)
Coach: Bob Coolen (21 seasons at Hawaii)
Why They Can Surprise:
Stephanie Ricketts and Kaia Parnaby have been the two best pitchers in the WAC. Ricketts, a senior, has completed nearly every game she has started. She is a strikeout machine and few players in the Western Athletic Conference have had any luck making contact against Ricketts. Parnaby is not quite as a dominating force on the mound, but she is having a great year too. Ricketts and Parnaby have pitched every inning for Hawaii and they only allow about one run per contest. Those impressive numbers may not hold up during the NCAA Tournament, but at least Hawaii should be able to stay in every game due to their talent in the circle.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Hawaii’s offense can be very potent, but they have their fair share of problems too. Everybody in the lineup has a big bat and is capable of going deep. That is certainly not a bad way to spark the offense, but when Hawaii is not hitting the long ball the offense can be very stagnant. The Warriors lack speed and do not even hit too many doubles. This is a station by station offense. If the Warriors are not slugging it out, the offense may have a tough time against some of the better pitchers in the NCAA Tournament.
Key Field Players:
Jessica Iwata, Junior, SS, .390 BA, 13 HR, 51 RBI
Sarah Robinson, Senior, 3B/1B, .347 BA, 7 HR, 32 RBI
Leisha Li’ili’i, Freshman, 1B, .331 BA, 9 HR, 36 RBI
Maka Duhaylonsod, Senior 1B/DP, .325 BA, 8 HR, 34 RBI
Alex Aguirre, Senior, OF, .258 BA, 5 HR, 24 RBI
Dara Pagaduan, Senior, 2B/3B, .275 BA, 4 HR, 18 RBI
Key Pitchers:
Stephanie Ricketts, Senior, Pitcher, 1.09 ERA, 27-3 W/L, 29 CG, 198.2 IP, 211 SO
Kaia Parnaby, Junior, Pitcher, 0.95 ERA, 16-2 W/L, 16 CG, 117.1 IP, 118 SO
By the Numbers:
Batting Average: .297 (40th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Earned Run Average: 1.04 (1, 1)
Fielding Percentage: .972 (25, 1)
Scoring Offense: 6.38 (10, 1)
Home Runs per Game: 1.46 (6, 1)
Doubles per Game: 1.13 (124, 6)
Triples per Game: 0.02 (269, 8)
Stolen Bases per Game: 0.65 (192, 3)
Slugging Percentage: .516 (11, 1)
Double Plays per Game: 0.21 (198, 6)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
| 2010 | Regional | defeated UC Davis, defeated Stanford, defeated Texas Tech |
| 2010 | Super Regional | defeated Alabama |
| 2010 | WCWS | defeated Missouri, lost to UCLA, eliminated by Arizona |
| 2008 | Regional | defeated Mississippi State, lost to Arizona State, defeated Mississippi State, eliminated by Arizona State |
| 2007 | Regional | defeated UC Santa Barbara, defeated UCLA, defeated Loyola Marymount |
| 2007 | Super Regional | eliminated by Tennessee |
| 2003 | Regional | lost to LSU, defeated Texas A&M Corpus Christi, defeated Northwestern, defeated Arizona State, eliminated by Texas State |
| 2001 | Regional | lost to Texas State, eliminated by Texas Tech |
*all team stats through 5/6
See All Softball Postseason Capsules
