Porter, Coogan achieve WAC honors

Advertiser Staff

University of Hawai'i softball players Stacey Porter and Melissa Coogan have been named the Western Athletic Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.

It was Porter's first honor of the year and Coogan's second.

Porter, a junior from Tamworth, Australia, hit .818, including a double, triple and homer. She leads the league in hits (57), batting average (.456) and doubles (13).

Coogan, a sophomore from West Hills, Calif., won all four games against Tulsa last week to raise her record to a conference-best 23-9. She pitched two shutouts. Her ERA for the week was 0.88, with three runs in 24 innings.

"When she's like that on the mound it's easy to put hits together for her," Porter said. "When she's confident, she's hard to beat. She's been awesome."

Confidence has overtaken the Rainbow Wahine after a roller-coaster non-conference season. They opened the WAC season by splitting with perennial champion Fresno State. UH has taken over first place by winning its last eight games, including sweeps of Nevada and Tulsa.

"Definitely coming out of Fresno was real positive for us," said shortstop Kate Judd. "Splitting with them is huge anytime and those were the first games in the WAC. We knew all we had to do is play our game the rest of the WAC. We got a lot of confidence that week. These last two series ... it's not like we blew anyone away but we stayed within ourselves, played our game and won.

"I think we're in a really good position right now."

So does UH coach Bob Coolen, who was so fired up about his team's play and position atop the WAC that he missed batting practice Saturday so he could check the Fresno-San Jose State game on the internet.

"This is exciting," Coolen said. "These kids are on the verge of something we've never done. With all the injuries we've had, people with personal problems, people quitting the team ... it's a testament to this team that there is this much talent. It was just a matter of finding the right places for them. Right now, this is something else."

This week, the Rainbow Wahine play their final home games, against San Jose State. They play doubleheaders Thursday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.), when UH will say goodbye to seniors Judd and third baseman Trisha Ramos.

Porter also is expected to be gone next season. She plans to take a redshirt year to train with the Australian national team and play in the Olympics, then return to UH to play her final season.