Top pitcher Andrew McNally pulled a groin muscle and won't be able to pitch in tonight's opener of a three-game series with UCLA.
"In fact, we're not sure if he'll be able to pitch at all in this series," Rainbows head coach Les Murakami lamented yesterday. "We don't want to do anything to hurt his arm this early in the season."
The only thing Murakami knows for sure is senior Robby Robinson will pitch in the opener. There are too many variables for Murakami to determine who will start the remaining two games.
Murakami did receive some good news yesterday from UH academic advisers. Senior relief pitcher Daven Hermosura is academically eligible to play.
"We thought all along that he was eligible, but we didn't want to take any chances," Murakami said. "We'll use him as a reliever."
Hermosura was 1-2 last year with a 4.76 earned run average. He had no saves, but should help a paper-thin pitching staff that yielded 39 runs in last weekend's four game set with No. 4-ranked Miami.
The team ERA is an astronomical 8.51. McNally didn't pick up the only win the Rainbows managed against the Hurricanes, but he was the main reason Miami only had two runs in the opener.
Robinson came back the next game and pitched three strong innings, but it wasn't pretty after that. He didn't figure in the decision, but his ERA of 14.54 tells you all you need to know about his four-inning performance.
"We're working hard on improving the mental part of his game," UH pitching coach Carl Furutani said. "We believe he can do it. We just need to get him believing it."
The Western Athletic Conference yesterday released its predictions by the other coaches around the league. Hawaii was picked to finish third behind Fresno State and San Diego State in the West Division.
Brigham Young was picked to win the North and Rice was the choice for the South.
"That's what the other coaches think about us, but not me," Murakami said. "I believe we'll finish higher than that."
The Bruins are ranked No. 2 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 5 by Baseball America. UCLA has a powerful lineup and three talented starters: Jim Parque (9-3, 3.72), Tom Jacquez (1-1, 4.50) and Dan Keller (7-3, 4.79).
Longtime UCLA head coach Gary Adams came within one game of taking last year's 36-28 team to the College World Series.
That's a major goal for this team, which is led by U.S. Olympians Parque and infielder Troy Glaus. Glaus hit .352 with 16 homers, 50 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.