Stephanie Ricketts had earned some down time.

As a freshman, Ricketts carried the fourth heaviest workload for a UH pitcher in the softball program's history, posted its highest win total in six years and earned All-West Region honors.

Although she would have been justified in shutting down her right arm for a month, Ricketts didn't wait quite that long before slinging fastballs again.

“;I took about a week off and pitched in a summer league,”; Ricketts said.

Ricketts will be back in the circle when the Rainbow Wahine open the season today against McNeese State in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic. But she probably won't have to shoulder as much of the burden in her sophomore season.

Hawaii head coach Bob Coolen has some flexibility he lacked a year ago with the addition of freshman Kaia Parnaby, a member of the Australian national team last summer, and junior college All-American Jenna Rodriguez.

Parnaby, a lefty, complements Ricketts' right-handed heat. Rodriguez is slated to start in left field and will initially contribute in relief.

“;Now you're putting two different types of pitchers on the mound,”; Coolen said of the Ricketts-Parnaby starting rotation. “;Now we have left, right. Balls are going to be breaking differently, the mentality of the hitter is going to be different. That's very key for us right now.”;

In a pinch, Coolen can also hand the ball to junior Melissa Gonzalez, though she will focus primarily on replacing four-year starter Clare Warwick at third base. The Wahine also return sophomores Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu — UH's clean-up hitter — and Sarah Robinson, two of the state's top high school pitchers two years ago.

“;It's great because Kaia's a lefty with crazy movement and then we've got Steph throwing gas and everybody has their own different things they go to,”; said Rodriguez, who went 25-5 and hit .489 in leading Yavapai College to the NJCAA national championship last season.

The deeper Rainbow Wahine staff will face a nonconference schedule featuring six teams ranked in the top 13 in the NFCA/USA Today preseason poll, highlighted by home games against No. 10 Stanford tomorrow and No. 1 Washington and No. 12 California next month.

“;We're going to be tested a lot and we're facing some teams that are going to hit the ball and we're going to see what we're made of,”; Coolen said.

The Wahine open the season against McNeese State today at 6 p.m., aiming to improve on last year's 30-24 showing that left them short of the NCAA regionals.

Ricketts appeared in 43 of those 54 games and finished 27 of her 30 starts, striking out 178 hitters along the way. Her 239 2/3 innings and 22 wins were the program's highest single-season totals since Melissa Coogan threw 281 innings and won 32 games in 2003.

“;I don't like to overuse a No. 1,”; said Coolen, whose options were limited by injuries last season. “;If a pitcher is hot, like Stephanie was last year, we had to ride her. This year with the combination we have we should have livelier arms by the end of the year.”;

Ricketts has added some pop to her fastball, topping out at 69 mph, and spent the offseason working “;on the pitches we didn't really use last year so when I pitch against the same teams they won't already have a chart on me and hopefully I can mix it up.”;

Parnaby spent her summer pitching for the Australian national team, facing the vaunted U.S. and Japan lineups during the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City.

She's been coached by former UH ace Brooke Wilkins and played with Warwick, Stacey Porter and Justine Smethurst, who preceded her in the path from Australia to Manoa.

“;(Parnaby) has gained a lot of invaluable experience for us,”; Coolen said, “;because she's going to be hitting a lot of teams where you're going to face good hitters one through nine.”;

UH SOFTBALL

What: Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic
Where: Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Admission: Free
TV: KFVE, today's UH game only
Schedule
Today
Stanford vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 4 p.m.; Hawaii vs. McNeese State, 6 p.m.
Tomorrow
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. McNeese State, 1 p.m.; Stanford vs. McNeese State, 3 p.m.; Hawaii vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 5 p.m.; Hawaii vs. Stanford, 7 p.m.
Saturday
No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 seed, 10 a.m.; No. 1 seed vs. No. 4 seed, noon; Third-place game, 2 p.m.; Championship game, 4 p.m.

Hawaii probable starters
1. Kelly Majam, CF
» Freshman sat out last season due to injury
2. Jenna Rodriguez, LF
» Hit .489 with 19 HRs in JC
3. Amanda Taualii, 1B
» preseason all-wac, hit .338 with 15 hrs last year
4. Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu, DP
» Hit .298 with seven HRs as a freshman
5. Melissa Gonzalez, 3B
» Steps in for All-American Clare Warwick
6. Kanani Pu'u-Warren, RF
» Hit .340 in WAC games last season
7. Traci Yoshikawa/Jessica Iwata, SS
» Senior and freshman in tight competition
8. Katie Grimes, C
» Three-year starter behind the plate
9. Dara Pagaduan, 2B
» Started 47 games as a true freshman

Probable Rotation
Stephanie Ricketts, RHP
» WAC freshman of the year, Preseason All-WAC
Kaia Parnaby, LHP
» Pitched for the Australian national team last summer