UNLV Desert Classic Tourney Notes


HONOLULU - The University of Hawai'i softball team (1-4) heads to Las Vegas, Nev. for UNLV's Louisville-Slugger Desert Classic this weekend. The 'Bows will battle No. 13 Northwestern, Kentucky, Oregon, St. Louis, and UC-Davis in the 22-team tournament.

The Rainbow Wahine are coming off a tough opening weekend in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic, in which they went 1-4. The 'Bows opened the 2009 season with a strong performance, knocking off No. 10/6 Oklahoma, 8-5. But UH dropped the next four games in the tourney to finish in fourth place. Hawai'i battled hard, but lost twice to No. 19/17 LSU, both games by a 6-5 margin, with the second game going to nine innings.

Senior third baseman, Clare Warwick, leads Hawai`i with a .497 batting average. In the first game against the Sooners, Warwick was on fire, going 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and a three-run home run that sealed the win. She was also stellar on defense, making 10 put-outs with 18 assists and no errors at the hot corner.  Senior right fielder Tanisha Milca also had a strong showing on offense, hitting .333, scoring a team-high five runs, with a home run and four RBI. 

On the mound, senior Courtney Baughman went 1-2 in the tournament finishing with a 4.00 ERA in 21.0 innings pitched. She gave up 17 runs on 29 hits with six walks and 10 strike outs. Sophomore Melissa Gonzalez went 0-2 and in 8.0 innings pitched, she gave up 10 runs (four of which were earned), on nine hits with three strike outs. Also making their first collegiate appearances this past weekend were freshmen Stephanie Ricketts and Sarah Robinson.