UH Softball Team Open Road Trip With Win Over Utah

The No. 15/19 University of Hawai’i softball team (30-3, 5-1 WAC) defeated Utah, 7-3, Tuesday at the Utes Softball Field.

Stephanie Ricketts earned her 19th win with her 21st complete game of the season while the UH offense was buoyed by three home runs by Kelly Majam, Alexandra Aguirre and Jocelyn Enrique. Ricketts (19-2, 4-0 WAC) earned the win throwing 7 innings, giving up three runs on six hits with five walks and four strike outs.

The Rainbow Wahine posted one run in the top of the second to take the early lead. Dara Pagaduan hit a one-out double to centerfield and later was driven home on an RBI single by Brynne Buchanan to right field. It was the first career RBI for the junior right fielder.

The Bows went up 2-0 in the fifth on an RBI single to second by Jessica Iwata to drive in Majam, who walked to leadoff the inning, from second base.

The Utes (23-9, 0-3 PAC-12) rallied in the bottom of the inning to knot the score at 2-2 on Hannah Clements’ two-run home run over the left field fence.

Hawai’i answered right back in the top of the sixth to see-saw back into the lead. Pagaduan walked to start things off and later with two outs, Majam came through with a two-run bomb to right field to give UH a 4-2 lead. The blast was Majam’s team-leading eighth of the season and 47th of her career.

For Hawai’i it was their second win over a PAC-12 team this season and seventh straight over Utah. UH now is 18-11 all-time against the Utes.

Hawai’i continues it’s eight-game road trip with a single game at Utah Valley on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Orem, Utah. The ‘Bows conclude their trip with a three-game series at BYU beginning on Friday, April 6.

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The Hawai’i women’s track and field team will make its annual appearance at the Stanford Invitational this weekend at Cobb Track and Angell Field. The Rainbow Wahine have appeared in every meet since 2005.

UH will send 18 athletes. For some, this will be their first outdoor competition of the season as the season-opening Aztec Invitational was cut short due to inclement weather.

Among the competitors who participated in last year’s Stanford Invite are distance runner Ashley Aitken, who posted the fourth fastest 1,500-meter time in school history and high jumper Sarah Saddleton, who finished second in the event. TeRina Keenan took third in the shot put and sixth in the discus.

Other athletes finishing in the Top 10 of their respective events last season were Madara Apine (third in the triple jump), Amanda Alvarez (seventh in the triple jump), and Joanna Franke-Kuhn (ninth in the hammer).

Following the Stanford Invitational, the Rainbow Wahine will return to Honolulu to host the Sunset Meet #4 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Field before returning to California, where they will participate in six different meets covering five days.