Compared to this time a year ago, Stephanie Ricketts' right arm is feeling pretty darn good.

Maybe too good at times.

As a freshman, Ricketts took the ball just about every time out during the Western Athletic Conference softball season, managing the mileage along the way. Now that she's sharing the pitching duties this spring, Ricketts can sense the effects entering the late stages of the year.

“;Now it's really interesting to go out there and throw hard every single game. It's nice,”; Ricketts said. “;I can definitely tell the difference now going into the game and having the ball move like I hadn't pitched in a while.”;

With freshman Kaia Parnaby providing an effective complement and reducing Ricketts' workload, the trick for UH head coach Bob Coolen these days is to keep Ricketts (17-6, 2.36) from putting too much behind her offerings.

“;She feels it and sometimes we have to corral her,”; Coolen said. “;We have to tell her not to overthrow, because her pitches don't do the same thing. So that's where she has to be a pitcher and not just a thrower with a fresher arm.”;

While she doesn't have to carry as much of the burden, Ricketts still leads the WAC in innings pitched and will get the ball again today when 25th-ranked Hawaii (33-11, 11-0 WAC) opens a three-game series with Louisiana Tech (21-12, 6-3) at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Today's game starts at 6 p.m. A doubleheader tomorrow is scheduled for 4 p.m.

The Wahine have provided the pitching staff with more than ample support in WAC play by averaging 10.82 runs and 11.2 hits per game. They rank fourth nationally in scoring, have launched a WAC-record 106 home runs and have ended 14 games early due to the eight-run mercy rule, including each of Ricketts' last four starts.

“;In the fall they were all hitting me and I was like, 'Dang, I need to start pitching better,' “; Ricketts said. “;But now I see them hitting everybody else, so I'm like, 'OK, they're just really good.' “;

Ricketts' strikeout pace has slowed since opening the conference season, with just three per game in eight appearances. But she's been content to let the Wahine defense get her off the field.

“;You don't really focus on strikeouts, you just focus on getting outs and let our great batters come up and let them do what they do,”; she said.

While Ricketts and Parnaby enjoyed the luxury of the offense's explosion as UH swept an eight-game swing through light-air parks at New Mexico State, Utah State and Boise State, their margin for error could shrink this weekend with a return to sea level and one of the league's top pitchers arriving in town.

Louisiana Tech's Meghan Krieg (16-9, 2.01 ERA) enters the series toting the last two WAC pitcher of the week awards. She leads the league with 203 strikeouts in 163 2/3 innings, sending down 9.02 per game in conference play, and has surrendered just eight home runs this season.

Krieg went 2-1 against the Wahine last season, including a career-best 14-strikeout performance in a win in Ruston. She later struck out eight in a 7-1 win over the Wahine in the opening round of the WAC tournament.

Ricketts also had two wins over LaTech last year, including a no-hitter. She and Parnaby (15-5, 2.53) will contend with a LaTech lineup led by shortstop Amberly Waits, the conference preseason player of the year and the WAC's second-leading hitter at .402.

While the Wahine have become a target by racing to the top of the WAC standings and have begun to draw national attention, Coolen is confident in their ability to maintain their focus.

“;I keep reminding them it's one game at a time, the old cliche. That's the mantra,”; Coolen said.

Think pink

The Wahine will wear pink uniforms for tomorrow's games as part of Under Armour's “;Power in Pink”; campaign to fight breast cancer.