Hawai‘i senior Leisha Li’ili’i and UC Riverside junior Chelsea Ponce put forth stellar efforts as recipients of the softball weekly honors.
Li’ili’i Keys Sweep Of UC Davis
Senior Leisha Li’ili’i (Kane’ohe, O’ahu, Hawai‘i/Castle HS) collected Big West Softball Field Player of the Week honors as she powered the Hawai‘i offense to a sweep of UC Davis.
The first baseman batted .778 (7-for-9) with a 1.556 slugging percentage to fuel a UH offense which outscored the Aggies 30-7 for the series.
Li‘ili’i homered twice and added a double during a weekend which cemented her standing as one of the most prolific hitters in UH history. Her two homers boosted her career total to 49, which ranks No. 3 in the Rainbow Wahine record books.
In addition, she contributed seven RBI, giving her a career third-best total of 155.
She had a two-RBI double and a solo home run to finish 3-for-4 with three RBI in the series-opening 10-5 triumph. Li’ili’i then went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI singles and a two-run blast to fuel a 13-1 (5 inning) win. She went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored as UH polished off the sweep with a 7-1 victory.
Li’ili’i started all 215 games in her career and leaves UH with a .334 batting average (201-for-601).
Others nominated: Missy Taukeiaho (Cal State Fullerton); Ariana Wassmer (CSUN); Darian Tautalafua (Long Beach State); Chelsey Holley (UC Riverside)
Ponce Notches Fifth Weekly Award
UC Riverside junior Chelsea Ponce (Norwalk, Calif./Cajon HS) racked up her fifth Big West Softball Pitcher of the Week award this season after winning all three games in a sweep of conference foe Cal Poly.
The right-hander finished the week 3-0 with a sparkling 0.86 ERA. She allowed 11 hits and three runs (two earned) in 16.1 innings of work, walking four and fanning five. Ponce limited the Mustangs to a .180 batting average. She did not allow an earned run over the final 11.1 innings.
The three wins gave Ponce 30 for the season, putting her at No. 1 in the Big West and sixth nationally. She also completed the campaign atop the Big West in ERA (1.34) and third in strikeouts (188).
Ponce helped the Highlanders record two sweeps of conference opponents – the other was UC Davis – in the same season for the first time in program history. In addition, Ponce played a monstrous role in UCR’s Division I program-best 39-17 record, and its first conference winning record (11-10) since joining the D-I ranks 15 years ago.
Others nominated: Desiree Ybarra (Cal State Fullerton); Brittany Hitchcock (Hawai‘i)