Hawaii finally beats Fresno

It was well worth the wait.

The Hawaii softball team needed an extra day, but finally picked up a victory over No. 13 Fresno State yesterday. Behind the two-hit pitching of freshman Shannon Tabion, the Wahine topped the Bulldogs 5-1 at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Rain had suspended play in the top of the third inning Saturday.

Tabion (4-3) threw three straight balls to force Vanessa Czarnecki in from third for what would be the Bulldogs' (41-14, 12-2) only run. Tabion then struck out Julie Selbicky to end the scoring threat.

Hawaii (30-20, 11-5) tied it with a run in the fourth then broke the game open with a four-run sixth. Highlighting the inning was Stacey Porter's two-run homer to deep left, her 13th home run of the season.

"Shannon settled down and pitched a real good game," said Hawaii coach Bob Coolen after his team went 1-3 against Fresno State. "She's going to be a pitcher to reckon with the rest of the season and for the next three years."

Courtside seats available for Wahine exhibition

Fans will have a chance to see Lily Kahumoku's return up close.

Starting today, the Hawaii athletic department is selling courtside seats for the Rainbow Wahine's volleyball exhibition match against defending national champion Stanford on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Kahumoku, a 2000 All-American who took a year off, starts as an outside hitter along with 2001 All-American Kim Willoughby.

Snow brings Aoki personal-best finish

Hawaii junior Kramer Aoki got the best finish of his career when the final round of the Cougar Classic was snowed out in Provo, Utah, yesterday.

Aoki finished 16th with a two-round score of 144 to help the Warriors into ninth place.