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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, April 24, 2010

Tauali'i powers UH softball, 6-2


Advertiser Staff

In the lineup, Hawai'i first baseman Amanda Tauali'i is easy to pick out as the one terrorizing Western Athletic Conference softball opponents.

Tauali'i bashed two two-run homers to boost the Rainbow Wahine to a 6-2 victory over Nevada yesterday in Reno.

The Rainbows are perfect in 15 WAC games, and are 11-0 since Tauali'i moved from the cleanup spot to eighth in the batting order.

During that span, she has hit .559 (19 of 34) with eight home runs and 19 RBIs.

"It's just happening," she said.

Tauali'i, who is left-handed, rocketed both shots to the opposite field.

"I saw all outside (pitches)," Tauali'i said. "Nothing inside. Everything was up and out, or low and out. It just happened to work out for me."

Nevada, now 16-21 overall and 3-9 in the WAC, is battling for one of six spots in the league's postseason tournament. Still, UH coach Bob Coolen described the Wolf Pack as the Rainbows' "nemesis."

Entering yesterday's game, the Pack won eight of the nine meetings between the teams dating to the 2007 WAC tournament.

"Nevada has always been our nemesis," Tauali'i said. "We all went into the game with the mentality that we have to beat these guys. I don't know if it had anything to do with (the outcome)."

Against the Pack, whose first four hitters are right-handed, Coolen went with left-handed pitcher Kaia Parnaby.

This was the first time Parnaby opened a three-game series.

But she has pitched well lately, mixing curveballs, screwballs , risers and drop pitches..

Parnaby, a freshman from Australia , struck out eight and walked none.

The Rainbows conclude the series with a doubleheader today.

"We'll see how everything goes,"Tauali'i said. "Hopefully, it will go in our favor, like how we have been doing. We have to stay focused and keep fighting."