The heavy rains that deluged Hawaii for most of the day forced the postponement of Hawaii's Western Athletic Conference game with Fresno State. Weather permitting, it will be made up today at 4:30 p.m.
Obviously, this game disrupts the first day of the Bank of America Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament as well. The first game between Wichita State and Nebraska was set for this morning at 9:30 at Rainbow Stadium.
The second game between Cal State-Northridge and Washington was moved to 1 p.m. The game between Hawaii and New Mexico will begin about a half-hour after the Fresno State-Hawaii game is done.
Had Fresno State not been able to make hotel arrangements to stay on Oahu and cancel today's scheduled doubleheader with UH-Hilo, the two coaches would have played last night.
"That's how baseball coaches are," UH head coach Les Murakami said. "We'll try hard to work everything out. We played in the rain for them last year. They would have done it for us.
"But because it was supposed to rain in Hilo (today) anyway, no sense for them to go over there. Hopefully, the weather will clear and we can get everything back on schedule."
The Rainbows will go with Dusty Bergman (1-3, 7.12 ERA) in the matchup with the Bulldogs. Murakami said he will come back with Robby Robinson (1-6, 8.68) in the game with New Mexico.
Robinson started in Friday's opener with Fresno State, but lasted just four innings. Murakami said he only had 52 pitches, so he should be fine working on only three days rest.
Fresno State will stick with freshman sensation Casey Rowe (5-0, 2.22) in an attempt to win the rubber game of the series. The Bulldogs are 20-13 overall and 7-4 in WAC play. Hawaii is 7-23 and 2-9, respectively.
"This is still the most important game for us," Murakami said. "If we can get another league win, it should put us in a good frame of mind for the rest of the week."
The rest of the week is going to be tough for Hawaii. That's because the tournament field is probably the second best in the history of the 22-year event.
Once again, Wichita State heads the six-team field. The Shockers have won the tournament eight times. They are currently 16-5 and ranked No. 13 in the nation, but veteran head coach Gene Stephenson said they might not be as strong as past Wichita State clubs.
Injuries to shortstop Zach Sorensen and third baseman Joey Blue are causing most of the concern for Stevenson. Blue could be back in the next two weeks, but Sorensen is gone for a month.
"We won't be as strong defensively without them," Stephenson said. "But we're still looking forward to this tournament. This will be the best competition we've faced by far."
Chief among them will probably be Northridge. The Matadors were ranked earlier in the year and are still a formidable 21-10. Because they are no longer in the WAC, the Matadors already have played in several tournaments this season.
Rounding out the field are Nebraska, Washington and New Mexico. The Cornhuskers are 14-15 overall and already are involved in Big 12 Conference games.
Weather in Seattle hasn't allowed the Huskies quite as many games, but they come into the weeklong tourney with a respectable 11-9-1 mark.
New Mexico is 14-14 overall and fresh off winning one of three against No. 7-ranked Rice. The Lobos took two of three from the Rainbows earlier this season.
"This looks like the most balanced field we've ever had, not counting us," Murakami said, then smiled. "But my kids will play hard and hopefully, come away with some wins."
Today's games Wichita State vs. Nebraska, 9:30 a.m.; Cal State-Northridge vs. Washington, 1 p.m.; Hawaii vs. New Mexico,
approximately 7:30 p.m.
4:30 p.m. in a makeup game due to yesterday's rainout.
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