ISLE FILE
UH wins, plays on in WAC
Advertiser Staff
Third-seeded University of Hawai'i pounded out 12 hits in rolling past seventh-seeded Boise State, 10-2, yesterday to avoid elimination from the Western Athletic Conference Softball Tournament at Fresno, Calif.
Tanisha Milca was 3 for 4 with three RBI, while Amanda Tauali'i was 2 for 3 and drove in three runs for the Rainbow Wahine, who improved to 30-23.
WAC Freshman of the Year Stephanie Ricketts gave up four hits in the complete-game victory, which eliminated the Broncos (21-30).
Today, Hawai'i will play second-seeded Nevada, which defeated fifth-seeded New Mexico State, 4-1, in last night's final game, at 1:30 p.m. (HST). The winner advances to another elimination game at 4 p.m.
DIVISION II SOFTBALL
HAWAI'I PACIFIC OPENS PLAY AGAINST UC SAN DIEGO
Hawai'i Pacific is not where it would most like to be this weekend. That would be home sweet Howard A. Okita Field. But it is exactly where it needs to be.
The Sea Warriors open the NCAA Division II West Region Softball Championships today at Dixie State. They play UC-San Diego at 9 a.m. HST in St. George, Utah.
Each regional features two four-team pods playing double-elimination. The winners advance to Super Regionals next weekend for a best-of-three series. Last year Humboldt State (Calif.) came out of the West to win the national championship.
HPU (40-10) played UCSD (29-21) this season in the Cal State Stanislaus Tournament of Champions, winning 12-3. Dixie State (30-9) and Cal State-Monterey Bay (36-25-1) play today's late game. The Sea Warriors took three of four from DSC this season, and beat CSUMB at Stanislaus.
The Sea Warriors earned a No. 2 ranking in the final regular-season West Region poll, after clinching their third straight PacWest title. They were not selected to host, with No. 3 Dixie getting the nod in its first year of DII postseason eligibility.
That leaves Hawai'i Pacific seniors Courtney Kessell, Krystal Plunkett, and Nicole Riviera closing their huge careers on the Mainland.
Riviera, a versatile infielder from Hilo, has a career .937 fielding percentage. The Waiakea graduate is hitting .280 this season and playing third base.
Kessell, an all-state pitcher at Kailua High School, recently surpassed 400 career strikeouts and shattered the HPU career record. She is one of just three Sea Warriors to pitch a perfect game. Last year she equaled the school's single-season record with 23 wins and is 18-6 this season, with a 1.81 earned run average.
Plunkett, an all-state shortstop at Pearl City, leaves as one of the most prolific Sea Warrior batters in history. She has hit .400-plus all four years and, at .491, could finish this year above .500.
TENNIS
NO. 1 BYUH WOMEN WIN, ADVANCE TO DII NATIONALS
Brigham Young-Hawai'is top-ranked and unbeaten women's tennis team blitzed through another match yesterday, shutting out 31st-ranked Cal State-Stanislaus, 5-0, in the NCAA II West Regional Tournament at La'ie. The Seasiders (26-0) advance to next week's nationals, where they will try to capture their eighth national title in 11 years.
BYUH is 347-3 since joining Division II in 1999.
The HPU women, ranked 14th, play at 10th-ranked UC San Diego tomorrow, with the winner advancing to nationals.
The West's top four men's teams played their regionals here yesterday, with the winners going to nationals.
Hawai'i Pacific, No. 6 nationally, ousted 36th-ranked UC San Diego, 5-1, at Kailua Racquet Club. HPU (14-5) won two doubles matches, then got straight-set victories from Nikkola Petrov at first singles, Daniel Luedi at No. 4 and Jan Hroch at No. 6 to clinch the match.
At La'ie, 28th-ranked BYU-Hawai'i (16-4) defeated 29th-ranked University of Hawai'i-Hilo (8-8), 5-4, in a match which lasted 5 1/2 hours.
HPU is one of 11 schools with both tennis teams ranked in the Top 25.
The NCAA II National Tournament starts Wednesday in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
