There are few elements more vital to effective hitting than balance.

Jessica Iwata learned long ago the importance of maintaining a solid base through her stance and stride to execute a powerful yet controlled swing.

As she’s progressed through her college career, her quest for balance has focused lately on keeping her aggressive nature in the batter’s box and patience in pitch selection in proper proportion.

"I’m very aggressive at the plate, sometimes a little over-aggressive," Iwata said. "Now that I’ve kind of matured at the plate, I wait a little bit longer and I think I have more walks than I did this far into (last) season. I’m still trying to be aggressive … just looking for better pitches to hit."

That’s not to say Iwata was some happy-go-lucky hacker earlier in her University of Hawaii softball career. She hit .367 as a freshman and led the Rainbow Wahine at .355 last year. But developing a keener eye while staying in attack mode could make the two-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year an even tougher out in the middle of the Wahine lineup.

"She’s starting to bring the zone a little bit more into focus. She would free-swing a little bit too much," UH head coach Bob Coolen said. "She’s getting more disciplined and it’s good for her. It makes her a better hitter because (pitchers) can’t go after her that way any more."

It’s still early in the season, but Iwata’s emphasis appears to be paying off. The junior shortstop enters Friday’s opener of the Bank of Hawaii Invitational against Radford atop UH’s hitting charts with a .459 average. Her 12 runs batted in ranks second on the team and she’s third in on-base percentage at .535.

She’s done so while hitting fourth in a UH order that has outscored its opponents 109-11 and is hitting a collective .375 in a 12-0 start that moved the Wahine up to No. 22 in both the USA Today/NFCA poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 this week.

Iwata led UH with 15 home runs last year and raised her career total to 34 with an opposite field shot against DePaul on Feb. 11. The Wahine have 18 homers in 12 games so far, but Iwata’s also encouraged by their ability to score without relying solely on the long ball.

"That’s how it is this year," she said. "We’re getting a lot of hits and finding the holes and getting people on base. As long as we’re accumulating runs."

While Coolen stresses that a player’s position in the order doesn’t matter much after the first time through, the designation of cleanup hitter tends to stick in opponents’ minds and her production impacts the hitters just ahead and behind her in the lineup.

Coolen said Iwata’s presence has benefitted Sarah Robinson, who is hitting .444 as the No. 3 hitter, and Alex Aguirre, a .346 hitter in the fifth spot.

"A No. 4 hitter has to be patient," Coolen said. "They’re going to be identified and they’re going to be the out the pitcher goes after harder. They just need to understand that the success of their teammates is built on their reputation."

Just as Iwata’s bat can spark the UH offense, she’s capable of snuffing out scoring opportunities with her glove and arm. Iwata’s arm strength has often helped the Wahine defense get back in the dugout, firing throws from the hole or on tough plays up the middle.

"She’ll throw them out (and) that will destroy a rally or keep a rally from happening. That’s something special that you look at," Coolen said.

Iwata isn’t exactly sure where the power in her right arm originated, but thinks growing up playing baseball on larger diamonds might have played a role. As an eighth-grader, she became the first girl to play in Kauai’s AJA baseball league and resisted switching to softball full-time until her freshman year of high school.

After a prolific prep career, Iwata didn’t draw much attention from Division I recruiters coming out of Kauai High, but her reputation has grown in winning the WAC’s top individual honor twice and earning a spot on the top 50 watch list for this season’s USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award.

But the balance in her outlook on the game has kept the added attention in perspective.

"It’s just something where I go out there and have fun because I like to play," Iwata said. "All this comes with winning and the awards are just a bonus, basically. I’m just glad I’m here. A lot of people don’t get a chance to play at this level."