’Bows get another
ranked opponent

Winthrop comes to town with
a No. 30 ranking and a high-
scoring offense

The Hawaii baseball team had yesterday off, a day to enjoy its three-game sweep of nationally ranked Florida State.

The Rainbows (12-8) were back at practice today preparing for a two-game series with the Winthrop Eagles, ranked No. 30 in last week's Collegiate Baseball poll.

Winthrop at Hawaii When: Tomorrow amd Wednesday, 6:35 p.m. Where: Les Murakami Stadium. TV: Both games, live KFVE, Channel 5. Radio: Both games live, KKEA, 1420-AM. Tickets: $6 orange and blue sections; $5 red section; $4 seniors, and $3 students age 4-18, UH students in the red section. Parking: $3

The Eagles (15-5) played in the Yellow Book USA Classic hosted by Pepperdine this weekend. They split their first two games, losing to the Waves 4-1, then crushing Cal State Northridge 13-1. The Eagles closed the tournament with an 8-2 loss to Oregon State yesterday.

Winthrop has a team batting average of .324, led by Heath Rollins (.451), Jacob Dempsey (.448), Kyle Robinson (.357) and Daniel Carte (.338). The Eagles' top pitcher is Kevin Slowery, who is 5-0 with a 1.96 earned-run average.

The Rainbows will attempt to keep their winning streak against ranked teams going by starting senior right-hander Stephen Bryant (4-0, 1.15) on the mound tomorrow and junior right-hander Colby Summer (1-0, 3.60) on Wednesday.

"We are playing at a level we are capable of," said UH co-captain Greg Kish, who has recovered from a strained right arm. "The hardest part is sustaining that level. If we do, we'll be in a good spot."

The 'Bows want to maintain the positive momentum generated over the last four games. They open Western Athletic Conference play against Louisiana Tech on Friday.

"We have to make sure we understand how we got to this point through making changes in our approach," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso.

"We were losing so many one-run games. We just weren't getting the big hit here and there. We were just not clicking. That happens early in the season. It doesn't help that we played a really good schedule. Now, we're at the level we strive for."

The part that sputtered most for UH early in the season was the offense. That was not the case in the last four games, all victories.

The Rainbows hit .345 against Florida State. Joe Spiers (7-for-12), Rocky Russo (6-for-12), Matt Inouye (7-for-14), Isaac Omura (5-for-11) and Luis Avila (6-for-12) led the way.