Stephanie Ricketts heard the number and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

The sophomore right-hander, who had averaged three strikeouts in her previous eight conference appearances, tied a career high with 11 last night and No. 25 Hawaii opened its Western Athletic Conference softball series with Louisiana Tech with a 3-1 win at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

With a week to rest following an eight-game, 11-day road trip, Ricketts turned up the velocity to improve to 18-6 and remain perfect in the WAC at 9-0.

“;I didn't feel like I was throwing that hard, but everybody was telling me I was,”; Ricketts said with a shrug.

Catcher Katie Grimes had the best view of Ricketts' 20th complete game of the season and could attest to the extra pop behind her offerings in leading the Rainbow Wahine to their 12th straight win, their longest streak since 2001.

“;She was throwing really hard,”; Grimes said. “;She was fresh, she was bringing the heat and she was staying focused.”;

Hawaii (34-11, 12-0 WAC) had overpowered most of its opponents at the plate while sweeping its last road trip, but relied on pitching and defense to edge the Lady Techsters (21-13, 6-4).

While LaTech ace Meghan Krieg (16-7) held UH to its lowest run total since a 3-2 win over San Jose State 11 games earlier, the long ball remained a staple of the UH offense as Jenna Rodriguez's two-run homer in the bottom of the first proved to be the difference.

“;We're playing steady, that's something we have to continue,”; UH head coach Bob Coolen said.

Krieg, the two-time WAC pitcher of the week, struck out eight, walked four and hit three batters, but stranded 11 UH baserunners, including seven in scoring position.

Krieg didn't give UH freshman Kelly Majam a chance to add to her nation-leading home run total early on, walking the Rainbow leadoff hitter on 12 pitches in Majam's first three appearances.

The first walk proved costly. Rodriguez came up two outs later and fell behind 0-2 before lining her 11th homer of the season out to left-center.

“;Just looking to make contact and it happened to be a pitch that I like,”; Rodriguez said.

UH added a single run in the third when Krieg hit Alexandra Aguirre with the bases loaded, but came back to strike out the next three hitters to keep the Lady Techsters within striking distance.

Ricketts remained in control, retiring 10 straight batters between the third and sixth innings. LaTech threatened in the sixth, putting runners on second and third with two out. But Ricketts caught Meghan Knowles with a called third strike.

Ricketts was two outs away from a shutout when Molly Goza launched a solo home run to left. The Techsters' comeback hopes ended when Aguirre made a diving catch of a fly ball to left and Ricketts got pinch hitter Valerie Quiroga to ground out to end the game.

Hawaii's next-to-last home series of the season concludes today with a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.