DENVER – The Western Athletic Conference softball coaches picked the University of Hawai'i to finish second in the 2012 season. Four Rainbow Wahine were named to the Preseason All-WAC team--Jessica Iwata, Stephanie Ricketts, Alexandra Aguirre, and Kelly Majam.

Fresno State took the top spot in the preseason poll with 44 points and three first-place votes. Hawai'i came in second, picking up two first-place votes and 42 points, followed by New Mexico State in third place with 37 points and two first-place votes. Brigham Young received the other first-place vote and came in fourth place with 35 points. Nevada was picked to finish fifth with 20 points, followed by San Jose State and Louisiana Tech tied for sixth with 17 points apiece. Utah State rounded out the poll in eighth place with 12 points. This is the 14th time in the last 17 years that the Bulldogs have been the preseason favorite to win the title.

The preseason all-WAC team was also announced. The Rainbow Wahine placed the most players on the team with four, while Fresno State and New Mexico State had three apiece.

Leading Hawai'i into 2012 are two-time WAC Player of the Year Jessica Iwata and two-time WAC Pitcher of the Year Stephanie Ricketts. Iwata led UH last season, hitting .355 (60-for-169) with team-highs in runs scored (43), hits (60), home runs (15), and runs batted in (44). In WAC action, the junior shortstop from Lihu'e, Kaua'i led UH with a .429 batting average, s7 hits, five home runs, and 22 RBI. Iwata was named an Easton All-American in 2011.

Ricketts, a senior pitcher from San Jose,Calif., was the cornerstone of the team all last season. Ricketts, who was also named an Easton All-American in 2011, posted a 22-11 record and had her best statistical season as a Rainbow Wahine with single-season bests in ERA (1.58), complete games (30), shut-outs (9), and strike outs (250) while holding opponents to a .193 batting average. She broke former UH All-American Brooke Wilkins' 16-year old career strike out record with 589 Ks and became just the second Rainbow Wahine to win at least 20 games in three consecutive seasons. For her career, Ricketts is now ranked second in the UH record books with 74 wins; third in appearances (127) and games started (107); fourth in innings pitched (712.1) and fifth in shut outs (23).

Aguirre hit .290 while starting in 54 games in 2011. She went 42-for-145 at the plate and scored 30 runs with three doubles and six home runs. She led UH with 12 stolen bases--a career high. In conference, Aguirre was third on the team, hitting .314 (16-for-51) with nine runs scored and five stolen bases.

Majam, a 2010 NFCA All-American, returned for her sophomore campaign after some serious health issues in the off season, but started all 55 games. She also hit .290 overall (47-for 162) with 38 runs scored nine home runs and 25 RBI. Majam led UH with 11 doubles and for the second straight season, had a 1.000 fielding percentage in centerfield. She tallied 10 multiple-hit games and six multiple-RBI games and  finished the season on a six game hitting streak. Majam's career home run total stands at 39—which is second in UH history only to Kate Robinson's 44 homers and her 119 career runs scored ties her for fourth place all-time in UH history with Stacey Porter and Kehau Cofran.

The Rainbow Wahine open their 2012 campaign with the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic, Feb. 9-11. Hawai'i will face tough competition with Seattle, Missouri-Kansas City, and DePaul all coming to Honolulu to open the season. The 'Bows will face 10 teams that advanced to the NCAA tournament last year, including 2011 Women's College World Series team California and Super Regional team, Texas A&M. Their non-conference schedule features 21 teams from 14 different conferences from across the country.

 
2012 WAC Preseason Poll

Rank	Team (first-place votes)	Points
1	Fresno State (3)	44
2	Hawai'i (2)	42
3	New Mexico State (2)	37
4	Brigham Young (1)	35
5	Nevada	20
T-6.	Louisiana Tech	17
T-6.	San Jose State	17
8	Utah State	12

    
2012 Preseason All-WAC Team

Player	School	Yr.	Pos.
Teresa Conrad	New Mexico State	Jr.	SS/1B
Carly Duckworth	Brigham Young	So.	OF
Jessica Dugas	Brigham Young	Sr.	OF
Jessica Iwata	Hawai`i	Jr.	SS
Tiare Jennings	New Mexico State	Sr.	OF
Michelle Moses	Fresno State	Sr.	P/1B
Andrea Ortega	Fresno State	Sr.	OF
Stephanie Ricketts	Hawai`i	Sr.	P
Valerie Swedberg	New Mexico State	So.	OF
Alex Aguirre	Hawai`i	Sr.	OF
Janna Frandrup	Louisiana Tech	Jr.	P/2B
Erin Jones	Nevada	Jr.	3B
Allison Lenzora	Utah State	So.	IF
Kelly Majam	Hawai`i	Jr.	OF
Brooke Ortiz	Fresno State	So.	2B/3B
Kassy Uchida	Utah State	So.	UT