UH’s Parnaby garners national honor

Kaia Parnaby was admittedly a little distracted during one of her classes on Tuesday.

It’s hard to blame her, considering she had just received word that she’d been named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week, adding the national award to the collection of conference honors she’d already received this season.

"I just couldn’t stop grinning," Parnaby said. "I knew I should have been paying attention, but I was kind of in shock. I didn’t really expect anything coming from last weekend. It was definitely a big honor."

Parnaby became the first UH player to earn USA Softball’s weekly award after setting a school record with a 17-strikeout performance over eight innings of relief in UH’s victory over Syracuse in the title game of the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament on Saturday.

She went 6-1 over the week with a 0.41 earned-run average and became the nation’s first 20-game winner this season. Her efforts also earned her Big West Softball Pitcher of the Week honors for the third time this season.

Along with leading the nation in wins, Parnaby ranks ninth in earned-run average (0.98), 11th in walks allowed per seven innings (0.90) and 26th in strikeouts per seven innings (9.2).

The national award provided a lift as the No. 20/23 Rainbow Wahine prepare for their Big West Conference opener this weekend. But Parnaby quickly shifted her focus to the series at Cal State Northridge, which opens Saturday.

"It gives me a boost knowing I had a good weekend, but it can’t really play on my mind too much because it’s a new week and it’s a new team," Parnaby said.

"I can’t really think about my past performances. I have to go out there and pitch how I can against a different team now."