RAINBOW BASEBALL
'Bows run into rain on way to Nevada
Bad weather cancels yesterday's UH-Cal ballgame
The Hawaii Rainbows lost their second baseball game to weather this year when the nonconference contest at California yesterday was canceled due to excessive rain.
The Rainbows travel to Reno, Nev., today and resume Western Athletic Conference action against the Nevada Wolf Pack with a three-game series that starts Friday.
They were able to hit in the cages at Cal for about an hour yesterday but have not worked out on a field in two days.
"I don't like not playing. We needed to play after Sunday's game," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "I'm a little nervous that we are down two games from the 56 (maximum number allowed by the NCAA in the regular season)."
Trying to schedule another NCAA Division I opponent to make up for yesterday's game and the one lost against UC Santa Barbara on March 28 is nearly impossible at this point in the season, although Trapasso has tried.
The thinking in the college baseball world is reaching the 40-win mark gives a team not winning its conference postseason tournament a good chance of getting an NCAA tournament at-large bid.
The 'Bows (25-11, 3-5) are in sixth place in the seven-team league standings and have 18 games left in the regular season.
Junior right-hander Steven Wright (5-2, 3.32 ERA) starts Friday for UH. Trapasso said senior right-hander Justin Costi (4-1, 4.82) and junior left-hander Ian Harrington (4-2, 4.37) would start the following two games, but he wasn't sure of the order.
"They recruit to their park the way we recruit to ours. They teach their guys to lift the ball and we teach our guys to keep the ball on the ground," Trapasso said. "If we play our game, we will have a chance."
The Wolf Pack (15-16, 5-4) ended a four-game losing streak last Sunday by winning the finale of their three-game series at Louisiana Tech, 11-5.
Nevada has two regulars hitting above .300, led by Matt Bowman at .370. Shawn Scobee is hitting .364 and leads the team with 12 home runs and 30 RBIs. The team batting average is .254, lower than in recent years.
The Wolf Pack's tentative starting rotation is made up of all right-handers, starting with seniors Tim Schoeninger (3-2, 3.59) and Travis Sutton (3-2, 4.05), and finishing with junior Ryan Rodriguez (4-4, 4.91).
Nevada installed lights at Peccole Park in the offseason and Friday's opener is an evening affair.
"It is going to be freezing, but it can't be any colder than it was at Cal today," Trapasso said. "I'm going to tell (Nevada head coach) Gary (Powers) that just because he has lights, he doesn't have to play at night."
The Saturday and Sunday games are afternoon contests.
All three games will be broadcast on KKEA 1420-AM, starting with the coach's show at 2:50 p.m. Friday and 9:50 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.