Granted, the No. 25 Bears are nationally ranked just as Miami and UCLA were when they came to town and took six of seven games from the Rainbows in the opening two series of the season.
But if history plays a part Hawaii could cause California some problems.
The Rainbows have won nine of the last 10 between the two teams. Considering this year's start is the worst since Hawaii went 1-7 to open the 1990 season, UH head coach Les Murakami hopes the trend vs. Cal continues.
"I know this team is going to come around sooner or later," Murakami said. "We have a lot of young guys who are going to get better the more they play. So far, injuries and academic problems have hurt our pitching."
Top senior starter Andrew McNally is still ailing from a groin pull and isn't scheduled to pitch until Saturday. That means freshman Jamie Aloy, who is 0-2 with an ERA of 8.16, will start tonight with senior Robby Robinson (0-1, 18.78) penciled in for tomorrow night's game if he recovers from the flu. If not, freshman Dusty Bergman (0-1, 9.00) probably will start.
This kind of uncertainty is one reason the Rainbows' pitching has been so woeful thus far. Second-ranked UCLA and No. 4 Miami scored in double figures in every game but the season opener, sending UH's team ERA to 10.97.
To make matters worse, the Rainbows are hitting a meager .259, while opponents are batting .339 with 11 homers and 80 RBIs.
Cal has several hitters who could make those numbers climb even higher. The Bears are led by outfielder Brian Oliver. Last year he hit .335 with five homers and 32 RBIs. Infielder Ivan Lewis batted .300 in 1996 with 27 RBIs and 44 stolen bases.
Veteran Cal head coach Bob Milano will send a trio of quality pitchers to the mound. Ryan Drese (1-2, 2.93) is tentatively scheduled for tonight with Drew Fischer (2-4, 3.08) pitching tomorrow and Jim Vorhis (5-6, 3.99) going on Saturday.
The series: California (0-0) vs. Hawaii (1-6). 7:05 p.m. today and tomorrow, 6:35 p.m. Saturday