UH softball squad dominates alumnae

Several of the alums who returned to Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on Saturday had helped the program establish its reputation for hitting the long ball.

The current Rainbow Wahine stayed true to that tradition by slamming three home runs in a 6-0 win in the annual alumnae game.

Sophomore Jazmine Zamora opened the scoring with a three-run homer off Kate Robinson in the fourth inning. Junior shortstop Jessica Iwata added a two-run blast to center in the fifth and senior Shannon Lum hit a towering shot to left in the sixth.

"It’s good to come out and have a fun game but be serious about it too and see where we are as a team," Iwata said. "It’s good to see good pitching and it’s nice to see our bats are coming around."

UH pitchers Stephanie Ricketts and Kaia Parnaby combined to hold the alumnae to four hits while striking out 13.

Robinson, who recently completed her professional season in Italy, finished with seven strikeouts over four innings. Jenna Rodriguez had three strikeouts over the final two innings for the alumnae.

Robinson held the Wahine to one hit over the first three innings before Zamora homered with Kayla Wartner and Sharla Kliebenstein on base.

"That really boosted my confidence," Zamora said. "It meant a lot more knowing I got a chance to hit off someone of her status."

The Wahine had tested themselves in intrasquad scrimmages the previous two weeks, and while the mood was light for Saturday’s game, UH head coach Bob Coolen welcomed the test to open the fall exhibition schedule.

"Kate’s first pitch, I don’t think the kids realized she was going to be popping it like that," Coolen said.

"It just really helps us when we have such quality (alumnae) to come out here and compete against us."

The Wahine continue the fall season with a three-game series with Chaminade starting Friday at RWSS.