Simplicity turned out to be an award-winning strategy for Hawaii senior Collin Bennett.
The UH third baseman said he was "over-thinking things" at the plate, which resulted in only two hits in 16 at-bats heading into last weekend’s series against Saint Mary’s.
Vowing to "simplify his approach," Bennett torched the Gaels in four games, batting .667 (8-for-12) with a double, triple, four runs and six RBIs to earn the Western Athletic Conference’s weekly hitter of the week award on Monday.
"I was making things a little too complicated when I had a little bit of a bad streak there," Bennett said after Saturday’s 7-5 win, in which he tied a career high with four RBIs. "I’m trying to relax the rest of the season and go out with a bang."
Bennett leads the team with a .328 average in his third season with the ‘Bows after transferring from Tacoma (Wash.) Community College.
He’s also tops on the Rainbows in slugging (.405), on-base percentage (.449) and RBIs (22) and tied for first with two triples.
He scored twice in a 3-2 win in the opener against the Gaels on Friday, collecting two of UH’s four hits.
In the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, he hit a two-run single with one out in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings in a game originally scheduled for only seven innings.
Hawaii (21-15, 2-1) will practice today before leaving on Wednesday for a seven-game road trip beginning at San Jose State on Friday.
UH sweeps weekly WAC softball honors
UH senior Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu and junior Kaia Parnaby were named the Western Athletic Conference softball hitter and pitcher of the week on Monday.
Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu hit .875 (7-for-8) with a double and two home runs and drove in eight runs in UH’s three-game sweep of Louisiana Tech last week. The Rainbow Wahine first baseman posted a slugging percentage of 1.750 during the series and raised her season batting average 55 points to .318.
Parnaby earned the WAC’s weekly award for the fourth time in her career after throwing a one-hit shutout in Saturday’s series finale. She gave up a leadoff single in the top of the first inning and held Louisiana Tech without a hit over the remainder of the five-inning game. She struck out seven in recording her seventh shutout of the season.
Parnaby and UH senior Stephanie Ricketts have a combined ERA of 1.02, good for third in the country. Individually, Ricketts moved up to second at 0.95, while Parnaby ranks 10th at 1.14.
UH (35-4, 9-2 WAC) travels to Nevada for a three-game series starting Friday.
The Star-Advertiser’s Jason Kaneshiro contributed to this report.
