IRVINE, Calif.—University of Hawai‘i softball players Jazmine Zamora and Kaia Parnaby were selected Big West Softball field player and pitcher of the Week respectively after their solid performances helped Hawai’i capture the conference’s regular season title. Zamora, UH’s junior second
IRVINE, Calif.—University of Hawai‘i softball players Jazmine Zamora and Kaia Parnaby were selected Big West Softball field player and pitcher of the Week respectively after their solid performances helped Hawai’i capture the conference’s regular season title.
Zamora, UH’s junior second baseman out of Temecula, Calif. and Great Oak HS, notched a pair of game-winning RBI and batted .545 to help power Hawai’i past Pacific on the road en route to earning her first ever Big West Softball Field Player of the Week honor. Zamora posted three consecutive two-hit games and twice delivered the game-winning RBI as UH finished out the regular season 43-11 overall and 20-4 in Big West play. She drilled two doubles and a home run among her six hits for the week.
In the series opener, Zamora crushed a clutch two-run home run to break a 1-1 tie and give UH a 3-1 victory. It was her third home run in as many games. She finished the game 2-for-3. In game two of the series, Zamora came up big in the clutch again to help the Rainbow Wahine overcome an early deficit. She laced a game-winning two-run double to the left-centerfield gap to give the ‘Bows the lead for good. Zamora went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk in Saturday’s 9-3 victory and scored a pair of runs thanks to a multi-homer game by Alyssa Villalpando.
Zamora, who registered a .583 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage for the week, is hitting .647 (11-for-17) over the last five games. She leads UH both overall with a .359 average and in conference with a .422 batting average.
Parnaby, a senior Aussie southpaw pitcher from Bilgola, Plateau, NSW, Australia, earned her fifth Big West Pitcher of the Week honor after breaking two longstanding conference records and helping the ‘Bows clinch the regular season title winning her two games pitched. Parnaby tossed her 36th complete game of the season in a 3-1 win in the series opener against Pacific. It marked her 36th victory of the year which eclipsed the Big West single-season record of 35 previously set by Cal Poly Pomona’s Rhonda Wheatley in 1987. Parnaby allowed one run around six hits and fanned five in seven innings of work.
In the series finale, Parnaby etched her named in the record book one more time as her three strikeouts gave her 325 for the year. That pushed her past the UH and the Big West single-season record set by former UH standout Brooke Wilkins’ mark of 324 batters in 1994. Ironically, Wilkins was one of Parnaby’s mentors and coaches in Australia before making her way to Hawai‘i.
In the final regular season game, Parnaby fired four scoreless innings and allowed just two hits as she picked up her 37th victory of the season. The southpaw is one of just three Rainbow Wahine hurlers to ever reach the 30-win mark, joining Melissa Coogan (32 – 2003) and Stephanie Ricketts (30 – 2010). Parnaby’s outstanding season includes a 37-5 record, 11 shutouts and a 1.47 ERA in 290.0 innings pitched. She went 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA against the Tigers this week.
With the help of Zamora and Parnaby’s performances, Hawai‘i was able to clinch its second overall Big West title and advance to its 11th NCAA tournament this coming week. In 1994, Wilkins’ rookie season at UH, the ‘Bows were co-Big West champions with UNLV. Overall, it is UH’s sixth conference title as Hawai‘i won the Western Athletic Titles in 2003, ‘07, ‘10, and ‘12. It is the first time UH has won back-to back conference titles in program history. The 2013 senior class has won three out of four conference championships in their careers.
Hawai‘i will travel to Seattle, Wash. for this week’s NCAA Regionals hosted by Washington. UH will take on Minnesota on Friday, May 17 at 3:30.
