Upon entering the pitcher’s circle this season, Stephanie Ricketts and Kaia Parnaby announced their presence in a manner reflective of their various contrasts.

Prior to Hawaii’s home games, the right-handed Ricketts fired her first-inning warm-up pitches with the driving rhythm of Nelly’s "Here Comes the Boom" pounding through the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium sound system.

"It’s just a textbook pump-up song," Ricketts said.

In her starts, Parnaby, a junior left-hander, tended to lighten the atmosphere by nodding along to "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO, explaining the offbeat choice as a means "to ease my mind."

However Parnaby and Ricketts may differ in their pitching styles and musical preferences, the combination has produced equally striking results this season.

"The similarity is they’re both competitive," UH head coach Bob Coolen said.

The Rainbow Wahine (43-5) — ranked 11th in this week’s USA Today/NFCA coaches poll and 13th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 — enter the Western Athletic Conference tournament with the nation’s stingiest pitching staff, ranking first in Division I softball with a 1.04 earned-run average.

Individually, Parnaby (0.95) ranks second nationally, while Ricketts (1.09) is sixth, making UH the only team with two pitchers in the top 10. They’ve thrown 19 shutouts between them this season, including three no-hitters.

Despite the lofty rankings, "I don’t think we really look at it," Ricketts said. "I think we’re mostly looking at what we’re doing inning by inning."

They’ve thrived together over three seasons, dropping their collective ERA in both seasons since helping UH reach the College World Series in 2010.

UH posted a 2.87 ERA that year, then led the WAC in pitching last year at 1.59 and ended the year ranked 12th in the nation. The Wahine have spent most of this season again among the nation’s elite, with Ricketts (27-3) and Parnaby (16-2) alternating starts most of the year while supporting each other in the dugout and in their bullpen sessions.

"As a coach, it’s a rarity you have two pitchers that are willing to do what Steph and Kaia do," Coolen said. "Their egos don’t get in the way. … To have two who for three years have gotten along as well as those two have is just tremendous."

With a power-based repertoire, Ricketts owns seven UH career records and became the program’s all-time leader in wins and shutouts this season. She reached 100 career wins and recorded her 800th strikeout in last week’s sweep of Utah State.

Parnaby, who will play with the Australian national team in the ISF Women’s World Championship in July, can baffle hitters with her movement from the left side and takes a streak of 20 consecutive scoreless innings into the WAC tournament.

Ricketts, a two-time WAC Pitcher of the Year, handled the pitching duties largely on her own as a freshman in 2009 after injuries depleted UH’s depth. Parnaby joined her the following year and the duo has posted a .768 winning percentage while reducing the strain on both.

"It was not fun knowing my ball wasn’t moving the way it could have because my arm was tired," Ricketts said, recalling the wear of her freshman year. ‘"It’s nice me and Kaia both have relatively fresh arms and we’re there to back each other up."

Parnaby has pitched with greater confidence after dealing with a tender elbow for parts of last season.

"It’s been really good and I’ve been a lot healthier this year," Parnaby said. "I have a lot more control because I’m not worried about my elbow hurting."

Having two premier pitchers takes on added prominence as the Wahine head into the WAC tournament, which opens today in Las Cruces, N.M. Top-seeded UH has a bye today and opens its run at the tournament title and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament on Thursday against San Jose State or Nevada.

As with most teams, pitching figures to play heavily into how far the Wahine advance in the postseason. Though their approaches may differ, Ricketts and Parnaby share the same motivation.

"It’s just completely different personalities, but at the same time we both want to win just as badly, we just show it different ways," Ricketts said.

"Either way you can win, so it’s nice."