Thursday, April 9, 1998
’Bows, Frogs both
hope to get hoppin’
'Gut-check time' for UH baseball
By Al Chase
Star-BulletinUniversity of Hawaii head baseball coach Les Murakami told his players after last Saturday's disheartening doubleheader loss to the Air Force Academy that Sunday's game was "gut check time."
The Rainbows will have to march to that tune for the remainder of the season. At this point in the Western Athletic Conference schedule, securing a playoff berth is far more realistic than thoughts of a West Division title.
The Rainbows opponent this weekend, the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, are in a similar boat. Both teams are five games behind the respective division leaders (UH trails Fresno State and TCU is second to Rice in the South Division).
The difference is the Horned Frogs are currently the front-runner among the teams battling for wild-card berths in the postseason showdown. Hawaii is seventh in that race.
"If you want a guarantee (to make the playoffs), 18-12 is a lock, 17-13 is not bad, 16-14 puts you right on the bubble," Murakami said.
"We have to get on a streak. We can't worry about getting help from anyone else. That's out of our control. We have to take care of our own business."
TCU head coach Lance Brown said that Rice's great start had left his ball club playing for a wild-card berth.
"That's what we're looking at. We can't control the other division winners. The rest of us are battling for a wild-card spot," Brown said.
The Horned Frogs (22-15 overall, 9-5 WAC) lost two of three at Rice last weekend and have lost four of their last five games. Twice TCU has put together four-game winning streaks this season.
"For us, it's been frustrating because we can't seem to put together a streak," Brown said. "We've had good wins then follow them with a bad loss. I still hope we can jell and run off five or six wins in a row."
Brown has used the same two starting pitchers to begin each WAC series. Senior right-hander Heath Collins (6-2, 5.21 earned run average) gets the call tomorrow. Junior right-hander Shawn Thompson (7-3 and a team-leading 3.71 ERA) goes Saturday. Brown hasn't decided on Sunday's starting pitcher.
Murakami will send junior left-hander Troy Yoshimasu (2-1, 4.37) to the mound in tomorrow's 6:05 p.m. opener at Rainbow Stadium.
"Troy keeps the ball down the best (of the UH starters) and throws more strikes," Murakami said. "He gives us a chance in the first game. He sets the tone for us and I think that is important."
Sophomore left-hander Dusty Bergman (4-3, 6.10) will start Saturday for UH (27-14, 5-10) and freshman right-hander Patrick McNair (5-2, 3.66) takes the mound Sunday.
Royce Hoffman, who has started every game (37) at third base, is TCU's leading hitter with a .393 average. He also has 10 home runes and is second in RBIs with 48. Right fielder Chris Connally (.357) is tops with 50 RBIs.
But, as Brown points out, "Our park is small and when we go on the road we suffer. And, turf has has always been difficult for us."
Defense has been a strong point for the Horned Frogs. They lead the WAC in fielding percentage (.971), haven't made an error in the last four games and only eight in the last 12 WAC games.
UH INJURY UPDATE: Third baseman Matt Wheeler (left hip) will play . . . Second baseman Rory Pico (groin pull) is about 85 percent, according to Murakami.
BROWN ON RYAN: All-time major league strikeout leader and Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan is a volunteer pitching coach for TCU.
"He's one in a million as far as his knowledge about the entire sport, not just pitching," Brown said. "He's real laid back, not pushy and he helps (our players) when they want help."
Demands on Ryan's time precluded him making the trip here.
WAC
West Division
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Fresno St. 10 5 .667 -- 19 19 .500 San Diego St. 9 6 .600 1 19 15 .559 San Jose St. 7 7 .500 2-1/2 22 13 .629 Hawaii 5 10 .333 5 27 14 .659
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Gr. Canyon 7 6 .538 -- 19 15 .559 Brig. Young 6 9 .400 2 20 15 .571 Air Force 4 11 .267 4 10 24 .294 Utah 2 11 .154 5 12 23 .343
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 16 2 .889 -- 29 12 .707 Texas Christian 9 5 .643 5 22 15 .595 Nev-Las Vegas 8 7 .533 6-1/2 25 14 .641 New Mexico 6 10 .375 9 16 22 .421San Jose State at Utah
Fresno State at San Diego State
Mesa State at Air Force
Texas Christian at Hawaii, 6:05 p.m.
Air Force at Nevada-Las Vegas
Brigham Young at Grand Canyon
Fresno State at San Diego State
Rice at New Mexico
San Jose State at Utah
WAC tournament race
Conference W L Pct. Rice (South) 16 2 .889 Fresno St. (West) 10 5 .667 Grand Canyon (North) 7 6 .538
Conference W L Pct. GB Texas Christian 9 5 .943 -- San Diego St. 9 6 .600 -1/2 Nev-Las Vegas 8 7 .533 1-1/2 San Jose St. 7 7 .500 2 Brigham Young 6 9 .400 3-1/2 New Mexico 6 10 .375 4 Hawaii 5 10 .333 4-1/2 Air Force 4 11 .267 5-1/2 Utah 2 11 .154 6-1/2Six teams qualify for the conference tournament. The three division winners automatically qualify. The next three teams with the best conference record also qualify.
WAC baseball
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
