MEMPHIS, Tenn.—University of Hawai'i softball pitcher Stephanie Ricketts was the 10th overall pick in the third round of today's National Pro Fastpitch Senior Draft. Ricketts was selected by the defending league-champion Chicago Bandits. She is just the second Rainbow Wahine to ever be drafted by the NPF.
 
Ricketts is currently 10-0 this season with five shut outs. In 64.0 innings, she has 18 walks with 78 strike outs while holding opponents to a .138 batting average. This past weekend, Ricketts became UH's all-time winningest pitcher with her 83rd and 84th career win respectively, passing former UH great Kelly Gentle's record of 82 set in 1999. Ricketts is already UH's career strike outs leader (667) since last season. She is currently the reigning WAC Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season and ninth time in her career.  

Stephanie is the second member of the Ricketts family to be drafted into the NPF. Her older sister Samantha was selected as the 12th overall pick in the 2009 NPF draft by the Akron Racers where she played for two seasons. The elder Ricketts is currently an assistant coach at Wichita State after spending the past six seasons as a player then as a coaching staff member.
 
Former UH All-American Kate Robinson is the only other UH player to ever be drafted into the NPF. She was selected in the second round, No. 11 overall by the Akron Racers. Robinson, the older sister of current Rainbow Wahine softballer Sarah Robinson, played for two seasons in Akron before heading overseas to continue her professional career in the Netherlands and in Italy.

Former UH catcher Denise Dahlberg also played in the NPF for the Texas Thunder after she graduated in 2005.
 
The only other Hawai`i player to be drafted in an American professional league was standout Dana Degen in 2000 Women's Pro Softball League, which was a precursor to the NPF that started in 2002. Degen, who also played for the Akron Racers in 2002 and 2004.
 
About the Chicago Bandits 
Since 2005, the Chicago Bandits have been members of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league. Located in the Chicagoland area, the Bandits provide an opportunity for female fastpitch players to further their careers at a professional level, and the roster has included such names as Jennie Finch, Stacy May and Monica Abbott. The two-time NPF Champions play at Rosemont Stadium, the only stadium in the country built for a women's professional team.

About National Pro Fastpitch 
National Pro Fastpitch is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. The league, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). NPF is the Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women's fastpitch softball since 2002.

Hawai'i is looking to extend its school-record 17-0 start in the Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament starting on Thursday, March 8. UH opens against Radford at 6:00 p.m. Also competing in the tournament are Marist, Robert Morris, and Southern Illinois. The Rainbow Wahine are just one game shy of tying the school's win streak record of 18, which was set in 2010.