Ricketts among 30 candidates for honor

University of Hawaii pitcher Stephanie Ricketts is one of 30 softball candidates eligible for the 2012 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for excellence both on and off the field.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be an NCAA Division I senior who has made notable achievements in four areas — community, classroom, character and competition.

Ricketts, a two-time Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, is UH’s all-time career strikeout leader with 620 and is just the second Rainbow Wahine to win more than 20 games in three consecutive seasons.

Ricketts is a psychology major who is scheduled to graduate in spring, and is a two-time academic all-WAC player. Ricketts is also a long-time volunteer, mostly in her hometown of San Jose, Calif., where she’s helped in various hospitals and nursing facilities. In Hawaii, she served as a volunteer for the Special Olympics and Kids’ Fest. Most recently, she and her sisters — Samantha and Keilani — were instructors and supervisors of a softball clinic in Pago Pago, Samoa. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.

Notre Dame de Namur beats Chaminade

Rhani Kaneaiakala had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Dianna Zane added 10 points and eight assists but Chaminade (1-18, 1-12 in PacWest Conference) fell 66-60 in overtime to Notre Dame de Namur (6-16, 4-10) in a women’s basketball game in McCabe Gym on Wednesday.

In the men’s game, Arron Mollet scored 25 points as the Argos (9-13, 5-9) beat Chaminade (9-11, 7-6) 66-60. Bennie Murray scored 17 for the Silverswords.

UH-Hilo sweeps Pacific in baseball

John Abreu and Joshua Wong both batted 2-for-3 and drove in a run in the first game, and Gaven Kinoshita and Jeremy Dela Cruz combined on a four-hitter in the second to lift Hawaii-Hilo to 7-3 and 1-0 victories over Pacific Wednesday at Wong Stadium in Hilo.

UHH scored an unearned run off Jason Sawyer in the bottom of the fourth to imrpove to 2-4. The Boxers are 0-2.