Well-traveled Wahine comfortable in desert

Accustomed to making itself at home while on the road, the University of Hawaii softball team spent the past two days getting comfortable in another new ballpark.

The Rainbow Wahine pulled into the third stop on their current road trip on Tuesday and had two practices to familiarize themselves with the conditions at Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium in advance of the NCAA regional in Tucson, Ariz.

The Wahine (44-7) put their preparation into play today when they face Notre Dame (38-14) to open the double-elimination regional in a game set for 11:30 a.m. Hawaii time. Regional host Arizona (35-17) faces North Dakota State (37-20) in today’s second game.

The team left Honolulu on May 2 and spent time in Logan, Utah, and Las Cruces, N.M., before being sent to Tucson for UH’s return to the NCAA tournament after missing out last year. Most of the juniors and seniors experienced the nearly monthlong journey of 2010 that took them to four states, giving them an edge in dealing with life on the road.

"It’s something they’re passing on to the younger kids," UH head coach Bob Coolen said. "How to handle themselves, how to eat better, how to get enough sleep."

Among the objectives in their sessions the past two days was adjusting to the heat in Tucson and the field at Hillenbrand Stadium, where Arizona is 21-5 this year. Coolen said the hard infield will benefit teams with slap hitters who can chop the ball into the dirt and use the high hops to get on base.

"We’ve been working on the quick plays, been working on trying to get the ball released quickly, just a lot of little things like that," he said. "It definitely will put a little more pressure on our defense and we’ll have to work around that and be a little quicker."

The dimensions are a bit bigger than those at New Mexico State, site of last week’s Western Athletic Conference tournament, at 200 feet down the lines and 220 to center. Coolen said fly balls carry well but "a pop up is not going to drift out if you have a gust of wind."

UH pitchers Stephanie Ricketts and Kaia Parnaby will try to rebound from a rough conclusion to the WAC tournament, where they gave up 15 runs in losses to BYU and Fresno State last Friday. The intervening week has given them a chance to rest and refine heading into the regional.

"I’m hoping they use their fresh arms to their advantage, get ahead in the counts and make better pitches than what we did (last week)," Coolen said. "We got the lead and you would expect us all year to keep those leads and we didn’t. We let the teams chip away, we walked a lot of opponents and we can’t do that."

While extensive travel is a part of postseason life for UH, this week’s regional represents quite a trek for Notre Dame, which hasn’t ventured out of the Midwest for its recent NCAA tournament appearances. The Fighting Irish traveled to Michigan in their last four regionals and went to Northwestern the previous two years.

"It was a pleasant surprise that we were picked to come all the way out here, because we’ve never actually taken a postseason flight," Notre Dame coach Deanna Gumpf said in a press conference on Thursday. "It’s a new experience for all of us, but we’re excited for that difference, the challenge, and the great weather, too."

All-region honors for Ricketts and Majam

UH pitcher Stephanie Ricketts and center fielder Kelly Majam were named to the NFCA All-West Region team on Thursday.

Ricketts made the all-region first team and became the second UH player to earn an all-region selection each of her four seasons. She was named to the first team as a freshman in 2009 and was a second-team pick the past two years. Dana Degen also made the all-region team from 1997 to 2000.

Majam added all-region second-team honors to the first-team selection she earned as a freshman in 2010.

Mississippi State catcher Ka‘ili Smith, a Kapolei graduate, made the All-South Region first team.

The teams were picked by NFCA coaches in each region and those selected are eligible for the NFCA Division I All-America teams.