GAME NOTES

SEATTLE—The No. 20/23 University of Hawai`i softball team (43-11, 20-4 Big West) heads to the Great Northwest to battle in their 11th NCAA tournament overall and fifth time in the last seven seasons. The Rainbow Wahine—the regional No. 2 seed and Big West champs—will take on the No. 3-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers (35-16) of the Big Ten conference on Friday, May 17 at 3:30 p.m. (PT). The No. 11 seed overall in the tournament, Washington, will host the No. 4 seed, Portland State at 6:00 p.m.
 
The pressure was on the 'Bows last week, as UH had to win at least one game in their final three-game series at Pacific to claim their second Big West title in school history. Hawai`i did not just win one game, but instead went on to sweep the Tigers in Stockton, Calif. to earn the BWC crown and the ­league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The 'Bows tied UNLV for the Big West title in 1994. This was UH's first season back in the Big West after spending the last 16 seasons as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Last year, the 'Bows won their fourth Western Athletic Conference title. This is the first time in UH history, that the 'Bows have won back-to-back conference titles (BWC-1994, WAC-2003, '07, '10, '12). Hawai`i's 2013 senior class has been conference champions in three of their four years at UH.
 
UH was one of thirty-one teams that were awarded automatic qualification after winning their respective conference's titles. The remaining 33 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top-16 teams were seeded nationally and will play at campus sites this weekend. Team pairings were determined by geographical proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference were not paired during regional competition.

Hawai`i has faced two of their regional opponents earlier this season—Portland State and host Washington. The 'Bows defeated Portland State twice, 7-0 and 8-3 in the Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament and split with Washington—who was ranked No. 16 at the time—with UH winning 5-2 and falling 1-3 in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic title game. Hawai`i hasn't played Minnesota since 1990 and the two schools are 1-1 in their series history.

Leading Hawai`i into battle this week are the reigning Big West Player and Pitcher of the Week, Jazmine Zamora and Kaia Parnaby respectively. Zamora helped lead UH to a sweep at Pacific to end the regular season. She recorded two hits in each of UH's three games and came through in the clutch driving in the winning runs in the first two games. In UH's last five games, Zamora is hitting 11-for-17 for a .647 average with an extra-base hit in all five games. She's accounted for three home runs and two doubles during that span. She leads UH's offense overall and in the Big West. Overall she is hitting a team-high .359 (55-for-153) and in conference she leads UH with a .422 average, with a team-high 35 hits.
 
Parnaby (37-5, 16-2 BWC) earned her fifth BWC Pitcher of the Week honor this past week after earning two road wins at Pacific to conclude clinch the BWC crown. In her two wins, she broke two long-standing single-season conference records. In her first win of the series, she earned her 36th victory of the year to break Cal Poly Pomona's Rhonda Wheatley's record of 35 set in 1987. Then in the series finale, she broke former UH All-American and fellow Aussie southpaw, Brooke Wilkins' single-season strike out record with her 325th of the season. Wilkins set the original record during UH's first ever Big West conference title run in 1994. She is also just one of three Rainbow Wahine pitchers to ever hit the 30-win mark—Melissa Coogan was the first, posting 32 wins in 2003 and in 2010 Stephanie Ricketts recorded 30 victories. Overall, Parnaby is 37-5 with 11 shutouts and a 1.47 ERA in 290.0 innings pitched. She's held opponents to a .200 batting average with 325 strikeouts to just 43 walks.
   

Seattle Regional – May 17-19 at Seattle, Wash. 
Friday, May 17
3:30 pm - Hawai`i (43-11) vs. Minnesota (35-16)
6:00 pm - No. 11 seed Washington (38-15) vs. Portland State (25-29)
 
Saturday, May 18
1:00 pm – Winner's Bracket
3:30 pm – Consolation Bracket
6:00 pm – Elimination Bracket
 
Sunday, May 19
1:00 pm – Championship Game
3:30 pm – Championship Game (if necessary)

Game Information
Television: All of Hawai`i's games will be televised on OCSports with Howard Dashefsky handling the play-by-play and Stephanie Ricketts covering the color analyst duties.
Video Streaming: Live video streaming will be available through the PAC-12 website at http://pac-12.com/live/gohuskies.aspx
Radio: ESPN 1420 am will have UH's Friday and Saturday's games with Scott Robbs handling the call.  If Hawai`i is playing on Sunday, the game(s) will be on NBC Sports Radio on AM 1500.
Audio Streaming: You can listen to Friday and Saturday's games on the web at www.espn1420am.com
Live Stats: Will be available at gohuskies.com
Tickets: All session tickets are currently on sale and single game tickets go on sale Friday. Call the Husky Ticket Office to purchase tickets or for more information at: (206) 543-2200. All session reserved tickets are $36 and all session general admission adult are $24.