PROVO, Utah – BYU heads to the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu for its final tournament this season against strong competition.
Rainbow Wahine Classic
Mar. 12-15
Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Honolulu
James Madison
Wednesday, Mar. 12 at 1 p.m. HST
No. 2/4 Oregon
Wednesday, Mar. 12 at 3 p.m. HST
Hawai'i
Thursday, Mar. 13 at 8 p.m. HST
Valparaiso
Friday, Mar. 14 at 1:30 p.m. HST
Bracket Play
Mar. 14-15 TBD
BYU
BYU finished 2-3 in the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic getting wins over Portland State and North Dakota State while losing both games against No. 19/21 Stanford by two runs. Freshman Sydney Broderick had her best five-game stretch of her young career hitting .533 with three doubles and two RBIs. Senior Tori Almond saw action in all five games of the tournament finishing with a 2.72 ERA and 19 strikeouts.
James Madison
James Madison won four games last week in the Jack in the Box Spring Fling Tournament including two wins over Cal. It received votes in this week’s National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll for its performance. Sophomore infielder Hannah Hayes leads the Dukes from the plate batting .390 with 11 runs scored. Sophomore catcher Erica Field leads the team with 15 RBIs. In the circle, sophomore Jailyn Ford and junior Heather Kiefer have split duties and have combined for 114 strikeouts.
Oregon
Oregon enjoyed a bye week last week, but still maintained its No. 2/4 ranking. This will be the third time the Cougars face a team ranked No. 2 in one of the major polls. The Ducks are 18-2 on the year and senior Courtney Ceo leads the team with a .500 batting average to go with 15 runs and 14 RBIs. Sophomore Cheridan Hawkins is the primary pitcher and holds a 10-2 record with 126 strikeouts and a 1.00 ERA.
Hawai’i
Hawai’i finished last week 2-2 in the Jack in the Box Spring Fling Tournament. It is a power hitting team ranking 13th in the nation hitting 1.24 home runs per game. Junior first baseman Leisha Li’ili’i leads the Rainbow Wahine from the plate with a .378 average, seven home runs and 18 RBIs. Freshman Heather Morales is Hawai’i’s primary pitcher. She has a 5.14 ERA over 61.1 innings pitched with 27 stikeouts.
Valparaiso
Valparaiso has struggled in the early going most recently finishing 1-4 in the Springhill Suites Invitational. It is led from the plate by Amanda Wisniewski with a .327 average, four home runs and 10 RBIs. Sierra Pico leads the Crusaders in the circle with a 3.32 ERA and 28 strikeouts.