Posted with permission, article and pictures, courtesy of University of Hawaii Manoa
IRVINE, Calif.—The Big West Conference announced its annual softball awards on Wednesday with four players from the University of Hawai’i garnering six different honors—led by senior Nawai Kaupe who was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Joining Kaupe on the All-Big West First Team was rookie pitcher Brianna Lopez who also earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team. Sophomore second baseman Maya Nakamura was named to the All-BWC Second Team while Ka’ena Keliinoi earned Honorable Mention honors.
Kaupe is only the second Rainbow Wahine softball player to be named Defensive Player of the Year after Kelly (Majam) Elms earned the award in her senior season of 2013. Kaupe, the smooth-fielding shortstop from Wailuku, Maui, finished the season with 80 put-outs, 92 assists and a .935 fielding percentage. She was one of the key reasons why the Rainbow Wahine finished the season ranked No. 1 in the entire NCAA DI in double plays per game out of 293 DI teams. Kaupe was in on 14 of UH’s 26 total double-plays this season. On offense, Kaupe finished the season leading the Big West in home runs (13), home runs per game (.31) and slugging percentage (.664). Overall, she led Hawai’i with 42 hits, 26 runs scored, and 30 RBI. She had a team-high 14 stolen bases which was the most for a UH player since Tara Harbert swiped 14 in 2003. Kaupe also led Hawai’i with 13 multiple-hit games and nine multiple-RBI games. She hit a team-high .462 with runners in scoring position and .580 in successfully advancing runners on base.
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