Ricketts pitches to WAC honor

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Hawaii pitcher Stephanie Ricketts was named WAC pitcher of the week for the sixth time.

Hawaii junior Stephanie Ricketts was named the Western Athletic Conference pitcher of the week yesterday following a standout performance in the Oceanic Time Warner Paradise Classic.

Ricketts earned the honor for the sixth time in her UH career after going 3-0 with a 0.37 earned-run average in the season-opening tournament. She struck out 25 while walking just one over 19 innings.

Ricketts gave up a run in the first inning of UH's 9-1 win over Southern Utah on Thursday, then fired 18 straight scoreless innings. She set a career high with 12 strikeouts over eight innings in a 1-0 win over Texas State on Friday and closed the tournament with eight strikeouts in an 8-0 win over UC Davis.

The Rainbow Wahine (5-0) start play Friday in the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas. UH faces Utah, Long Beach State, No. 20 Oregon, No. 14 Stanford and Cal State Northridge over the three-day tournament.

Hawaii's game against Texas State was canceled yesterday due to emergency changes in the Bobcats' travel plans. Texas State's originally scheduled flight was canceled, forcing the team to take an earlier flight back to the mainland. The game will not be made up.