Athlete of Week: Uh-Hilo ace Salinas

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Performance: The senior right-hander may have skipped last season, but she hasn’t skipped a beat in her 2015 return.

Performance: The senior right-hander may have skipped last season, but she hasn’t skipped a beat in her 2015 return.

How is this for consistency? Salinas sports a 1.86 ERA after dazzling with a 1.41 ERA in 2013.

On March 1 against Chaminade, Salinas carried UH-Hilo by pitching a six-hit shutout and driving in the game’s only run with a fourth-inning homer. In the second game of the doubleheader, Salinas tossed 4 1/3 innings of shutout relief as UH-Hilo came from behind to win 8-6.

Last Saturday in an 8-7 victory against Azusa Pacific, Salinas was victimized by five unearned runs during a complete game, but she more than made up for it by smacking a two-run home run to highlight a six-RBI performance.

In all, Salinas allowed five earned runs – going 3-1 with a 1.38 ERA – last week but drove in eight to go along with a .313 average with four runs scored.

5 questions

Favorite song: “Uptown Funk,” Bruno Mars

What makes you happy: Food and family

Favorite cartoon character: The Minions from Despicable Me

Favorite food: Pizza

Favorite sports role model: Lisa Fernandez

To nominate a candidate, email sports@hawaiitribune-herald.com.