RAINBOW BASEBALL
UH visits hottest team in the WAC
After the first two Western Athletic Conference baseball series, it is obvious the Hawaii Rainbows will find themselves in a dogfight every weekend until the end of May.
An inspired Louisiana Tech team won both games that were played at Les Murakami Stadium. The Rainbows and San Jose State Spartans needed 34 innings of no-give-up baseball last weekend to settle their series in UH's favor, 2-1.
This week the 'Bows (24-9, 2-3 WAC) travel to take on one of if not the hottest college team in America, the Fresno State Bulldogs (24-9, 5-1), who have won 17 of their last 18 and are in first place in the league.
The three-game conference series starts tomorrow at FSU's Pete Beiden Field, where the Rainbows are 2-10 in coach Mike Trapasso's four years at the helm and just 7-21 over the last 10 seasons.
"Fresno is a very tough environment. It is another challenge that gives us the opportunity to keep things going," Trapasso said.
"If you look at what happened in our two series -- and give LaTech credit although we didn't play well -- you have to be on top of your game every weekend or you will get beat."
The Bulldogs, who struggled early in recent seasons, then turned things around in conference play, did not wait for the WAC season to begin this year.
After the Bulldogs, who are 20-4 at home, lost to Stanford on Feb. 26, they went undefeated in March and did not lose again until Sunday's 9-8 defeat at New Mexico State.
"Mike (Batesole, FSU coach) has a good team. He has finally gotten to the point where he has his own players and they know what they are doing. He played a good schedule early, battled through it, and is well-prepared."
FSU's rotation starts with 6-foot-8 right-hander Doug Fister (4-3, 3.00 earned-run average). He is followed by left-hander Eddie Romero (7-1, 3.22) and right-hander Andy Underwood (5-2, 3.48). The 'Bows have seen Fister and Romero before, while Underwood in a junior college transfer.
Trapasso is going with the same rotation he used last week, tweaked a little with the insertion of senior right-hander and WAC Pitcher of the Week Justin Costi (4-0, 3.82) in the Saturday slot.
Steven Wright gets the start tomorrow and Trapasso hopes some things the junior right-hander has been working on pays off.
"Steven has been running away from his arm, leaves his arm a little bit behind his body. His balance point is good, but he spreads out a little too early, especially from the stretch position," Trapasso.
"He has been high in the strike zone and could get away with it because of his stuff, but some teams are good high-ball-hitting teams. Whether you are a power pitcher or not, the goal is to have the ball in the lower half of the zone."
Junior left-hander Ian Harrington (4-1, 3.74) will start Sunday.
The games will be broadcast live on KKEA 1420-AM. Saturday's game will be televised nationally on CSTV (Dig. 247).
"Tell your readers to call Oceanic and sign up for that game. We need all the good karma we can get because that is a tough place to play," Trapasso said.
Notes: Fresno leads the series 58-36. ... On this 13-day road trip, Hawaii has a nonconference game Tuesday against California, then goes to Reno for a three-game WAC series with Nevada next weekend.