Rainbows play way
back into WAC race

UH is tied with two other
teams for second place

The Hawaii Rainbows, idle last week, played their way into contention for the Western Athletic Conference baseball title with six consecutive wins in the last two weeks in April.

Fresno State at Hawaii When: Tomorrow and Friday, 6:35 p.m., and Saturday, 1:05 p.m. Where: Les Murakami Stadium. TV: All games live, KFVE, Channel 5. Radio: All games live, KKEA, 1420-AM. Tickets: $6 orange and blue sections; $5 red section; $4 seniors; and $3 students age 4-18 and UH students in the red section. Parking: $3.

"This is a team that can win and I just want to keep it rolling," said co-captain Greg Kish. "Don't talk about it, just go out and do it."

The 'Bows resume play in a three-way tie for second place in the WAC standings with the Fresno State Bulldogs and the Nevada Wolf Pack.

The three teams are 11-10 in league action.

First-place Rice (13-8 WAC) has a two-game lead over the second-place trio. The Owls play their final league road series at Nevada this week.

The top four teams have nine league games remaining.

The Rainbows (24-23 overall) play the Bulldogs (25-25) in a critical three-game series for both teams starting tomorrow at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Bulldogs swept UH by 6-3, 6-3 and 5-3 scores March 25-27 in Fresno. In that series the 'Bows held the lead once, for one inning in the third game.

"If everyone believes we can do it, then I truthfully believe we will win the WAC. We have the talent on this team to do it," said senior designated hitter Nate Thurber.

The winning streak allowed the Rainbows to maintain control of their own destiny. They slowed Nevada's title drive two weeks ago and can do the same against Fresno State.

That will be a challenge because the Bulldogs put a damper on San Jose State's chances last week with a three-game sweep of the Spartans, including one-run victories in the final two games. Last year FSU came on strong at the end to finish second in the WAC.

This year, the prize is much bigger for all the contenders trying to unseat Rice and get the WAC's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

"It will be interesting to see how we play this week. The last two weeks we played great after everyone had written us off and there were no expectations," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso.

"Now the expectations are higher and there is a little more pressure. I want to see how the players handle it."

Trapasso is tweaking his starting rotation a bit for FSU. Steve Bryant (6-3, 3.04 earned-run average) starts tomorrow. Justin Costi (2-4, 3.14) moves into the No. 2 slot with the start Friday. Either Ricky Bauer (4-3, 4.82), if he is not needed out of the bullpen the first two games, or Colby Summer (2-4, 5.15) will go Saturday.

FSU coach Mike Batesole will open with junior right-hander Matt Garza (5-4, 3.14) on the mound tomorrow and follow with junior right-hander Doug Fister on Friday.

Garza and Fister both held UH to four hits in seven innings to win games one and three in the series at Fresno.

The Bulldogs have won the season series with UH three of the last four years and have a 19-7 advantage since Trapasso became head coach.