Despite the fact the University of Hawaii baseball team is playing for pride only, the veteran head coach promises to stick with the same lineup entering tonight's series opener with Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
Murakami will clear the bench only if there's a blowout one way or the other in the final home series of the season. He's still looking to get as many Western Athletic Conference wins as possible.
That means fifth-year seniors Jaime Ahu, Chris Garnett, Jody Napuunoa, Keoni Hansen and Paul Ah Yat will see plenty of playing time in their last tour of duty at Rainbow Stadium.
Juniors Mark Johnson and Jason Ross, who are the most marketable Rainbows at the professional level, will probably be playing here for the final time as well.
Johnson will be making his last start at Rainbow Stadium in tonight's 7:05 opener. While normally that would be a big drawing card, it might be an evening reserved for only family and friends.
That's because the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball tournament will be going on at the same time at the Special Events Arena. An overflow crowd of 10,000 is hoping the UH men's volleyball team will advance to next week's Final Four.
Not so long ago, that kind of attention in the spring was reserved for the men's baseball team. Murakami and his veteran players had hoped for an NCAA regional appearance, but the Rainbows will be left out for a third consecutive season.
"It's disappointing because we had our chances," Murakami said. "We just didn't make the plays at the right times. But give these kids credit. They've played hard all the way through."
The Rainbows are 29-20 overall and 12-12 in WAC action. Hawaii is currently tied for fourth with San Luis Obispo in West Division play. Both teams trail front-running Cal State-Northridge by four games.
The Mustangs have won 11 of their last 16 games to raise their overall record to 22-19. This is only the second year of Division I baseball for San Luis Obispo. The Mustangs will join the Big West Conference next season.
"This is a very good ballclub," Murakami said. "We had to work very hard for a pair of one-run wins at their place. They have some excellent starting pitching and guys who can hit.
"Some people have asked why don't I go ahead and play the young guys more, but we still want to win as many games as we can. Right now, some of our best players are our seniors. So we'll stay with the same lineup, at least for the first game."
Johnson, who will know in five weeks whether he will be on the U.S. Olympic team, brings a 6-3 record and 3.93 ERA into his final home start. His 123 strikeouts are good enough for seventh on the all-time UH single-season list.
Paul Ah Yat (10-4, 4.19) is scheduled for tomorrow's 2:05 p.m. game, with a rejuvenated Robby Robinson (4-6, 6.00) set for Sunday's home finale. The top relievers will be Daven Hermosura (1-2, 4.74), Troy Yoshimasu (2-0, 4.13) and Randon Ho (5-3, 6.69).
San Luis Obispo will counter with starters Mike Zirelli (6-3, 3.86), Matt Atterberry (6-4, 4.50) and Jason Novi (3-4, 3.87). The Mustangs also have a solid array of position players.
Steve Rohlmeier is the leading hitter with a .358 average. Jon Macalutas is tops in homers with seven. He also is hitting .327. Ryan Brennan is having a good season as well with a .350 average.
Hawaii welcomes back a healthier Neal Honma, who has been battling through nagging shoulder and ankle problems. Honma will be the designated hitter for the Rainbows. He leads the team with a .366 average.
Murakami will start Garnett (.340) at first, Napuunoa (.317) at second, Ahu (.291) at short and Robert Medeiros (.347) at third. The outfield will have Greg Millichap (.331) in left, Darren Blakely (.289) in center and Hansen (.324) in right.
The catcher will be Kenn Wakakuwa (.318) tonight and Sunday, with Garnett catching tomorrow.
Hawaii will close out its season next weekend at Fresno State.
"We still want to finish as high in the division standings as we can," Murakami said. "We lost a couple of games last weekend at San Diego State that we should have won.
"If we had, we'd be right in the race. But hey, what are you going to do? We just haven't had the breaks. Hopefully, we can play well in our last series at home, especially for the seniors."
Today: 7:05 p.m. UH BASEBALL
Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo at Hawaii
Tomorrow: at 2:05 p.m
Sunday: at 3:05 p.m.
Where: Rainbow Stadium.
Broadcasts: Live on KFVE-TV (Channel 5) tomorrow and Sunday, and KCCN (1420-AM) will update tonight during volleyball, and be live tomorrow and Sunday.
Tickets: Available at the Rainbow Stadium ticket office.