SEATTLE >> Few college softball teams steal more bases than the Minnesota Gophers, but Hawaii pitching sensation Kaia Parnaby reminded the Gophers of one undeniable fact: You can’t steal first base.
Parnaby (38-5), the national co-leader in wins, tossed a four-hit shutout in a dominant performance to lead Hawaii to a 3-0 triumph in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on a cool Friday afternoon with a handful of Hawaii fans among the estimated 300 spectators.
“She did a great job,” Minnesota coach Jessica Allister said. “There’s a reason she’s putting up the numbers she’s put up.”
Hawaii (44-11), the No. 2 seed in the Seattle Regional and winner of six in a row, takes on No. 1 seed Washington (39-15) today at 10 a.m. at Washington’s Husky Softball Stadium. The teams split two games in February at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
“We matched up well,” Hawaii coach Bob Coolen said.
“Hawaii, obviously, has gotten a lot better since the start of the year,” Washington coach Heather Tarr said.
Today’s winner advances to Sunday’s title game and would have to lose twice to miss out on a spot in the Super Regional next week. The Hawaii-Washington loser fights for survival this afternoon at 3 o’clock against the winner of today’s middle game matching third seed Minnesota (35-18) and fourth seed Portland State (25-30).
Washington, the only nationally seeded team (No. 11), managed only one hit off Portland State’s Anna Bertrand in a 2-1 win over the Vikings on Friday night. The Huskies came into the game ranked 23rd in the nation in hitting at .315.
“They’re a great hitting team,” said Parnaby, who has a loss and a save against Washington this season.
Against Minnesota, Parnaby struck out eight, walked one and allowed only two batters to advance as far as second base. The Australian national team ace outdueled Sara Moulton (31-11), who struck out six and allowed just six hits.
“Both (pitchers) did a tremendous job,” Allister said.
All of Hawaii’s runs came in the fifth inning.
Moulton, an All-Big Ten Conference pitcher, had given up just two singles before Sharla Kleibenstein pounded a double to left-center with one out in the fifth.
Brynne Buchanan fanned before Moulton intentionally walked Kelly Majam. Kayla Wartner, down 0-2 on the count, worked a walk to load the bases.
Keiki Carlos then drove in Kleibenstein with an infield single deep in the hole at short that left Tyler Walker without a throw.
Carlos, a freshman from Mid-Pacific, provided all the offense Parnaby needed. One pitch later, however, former Kauai High star Jessica Iwata smoked a single to center field to plate Majam and pinch runner Kiani Wong.
“They were aggressive swingers the whole game,” Moulton said. “I tried to keep the ball down.”
“With two 30-game winners on the mound,” Coolen said, “I thought it would be a pitcher’s duel at first, then the bats would wake up after adjustments were made.”
Parnaby, a hard-throwing left-hander, overwhelmed a Minnesota team with just two players batting over .256 coming into the game (and four starters hitting under .200).
“I felt I was pitching a lot harder than I normally do … (but) I don’t have a fastball,” insisted Parnaby, who throws her two money pitches — a screwball and a sinker — with impressive velocity.
Iwata went 3-for-3 for the Rainbow Wahine, who are ranked 20th in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and 23rd in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25.
In Seattle
Minnesota 000 000 0 — 0 4 0
Hawaii 000 030 x — 3 6 0
Sara Moulton and Kari Dorle. Kaia Parnaby and Kayla Wartner. W—Parnaby. L—Moulton.
Leading hitters—Minnesota: Erica Meyer, 3-3, 2B. Hawaii: Keiki Carlos, RBI; Jessica Iwata, 3-3, 2 RBIs; Sharla Kliebenstein, 2B.