Wednesday, April 15, 1998
Crucial series for
Base’Bows
Coach Les ponders pitching
By Al Chase
Star-BulletinDo you want to know who the University of Hawaii's starting pitchers are for this weekend's three-game Western Athletic Conference series with Grand Canyon University? So does Rainbow head coach Les Murakami. And he did not have any answers yesterday.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know and I'll tell you why," Murakami said. "Troy (Yoshimasu) has vertigo again and I'm not sure how he's going to be. Dusty (Bergman) has a groin pull (right leg, suffered at Air Force)."
The third member of the recent starting rotation, freshman right-hander Patrick McNair, is still scheduled to start Sunday's series finale.
As for tomorrow and Saturday, Murakami could only guess.
"If Yoshimasu and Bergman don't go, then certainly I'll go with (Jamie) Aloy. I won't have a choice, and maybe Ian Jones."
The Grand Canyon series is about as close as the Rainbows get to a do-or-die series. By Sunday night, with 12 WAC games left, either the 'Bows (28-16 overall, 6-12 league) will have rekindled their chances for a WAC tournament berth or they'll be playing for next season.
The Antelopes (21-17, 9-7), in their final WAC season, are leading the North Division by three games over Brigham Young. With the Cougars hosting West Division leader Fresno State this weekend, Grand Canyon stands a chance of increasing its lead if victorious at Rainbow Stadium.
Every Antelope starter is hitting over .300, led by right fielder Rick Kerns (.385, 7 home runs, 24 RBIs). On the down side, the Antelopes team earned run average is 7.53.
The scheduled starters for head coach Gil Stafford are Matt Silcock (4-4, 6.10), Rob Price (7-2, 7.89) and Bill Curtis (4-2, 6.81).
Murakami also is looking for more offense. He told his six outfielders and the designated hitters that they would all play one game, then the best performers would get the start Sunday.
"I told them I felt sorry for the two freshman (Brandon Martin and Joe Whitsett) who are hitting .400 something," Murakami said. "I'm not playing them because I want to give the older kids a chance. Now, nobody can tell they haven't played enough or that they aren't ready.
"We've only got 12 more games. For me, if we can't turn it around now, we aren't going to turn it around. It's unfortunate because this is not a bad team. It's just, for some reason, we haven't jelled. The outfield is not hitting the way it should be hitting. Maybe by doing this, everybody will go to another level. I hope so anyway."
The Rainbows enter the series 5-1/2 games behind Fresno State and 2-1/2 games behind third-place San Jose State in the West. The Spartans host Nevada-Las Vegas, third in the South Division, this weekend.
Of greater concern is UH's standing among the conference wild-card teams. The 'Bows are four games out of the sixth and final tournament playoff spot.
WAC baseball
Grand Canyon vs. Hawaii: Tomorrow, 6:05 p.m.
WAC
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Fresno St. 11 6 .647 -- 21 20 .512 San Diego St. 10 7 .588 1 22 16 .579 San Jose St. 8 9 .471 3 24 15 .615 Hawaii 6 12 .333 5-1/2 28 16 .636
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Gr. Canyon 9 7 .563 -- 21 17 .553 Brig. Young 7 11 .389 3 21 17 .553 Air Force 5 13 .278 5 11 26 .297 Utah 4 12 .250 5 14 24 .368
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 18 3 .857 -- 31 14 .705 Texas Christian 11 6 .647 5 24 16 .600 Nev-Las Vegas 10 8 .556 6-1/2 27 15 .643 New Mexico 7 12 .368 10 18 24 .429Fresno State at Brigham Young
Grand Canyon at Hawaii, 6:05 p.m.
Fresno State at Brigham Young
Rice at Utah
Nevada-Las Vegas at San Jose State
New Mexico at Air Force
San Diego State at Texas Christian
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
