RAINBOW BASEBALL
Rainbows' Daly gets another top honor
Matt Daly got a pleasant surprise while studying for final exams yesterday.
The Hawaii sophomore right-hander learned he was named the Pro-Line Athletic National Pitcher of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
"It was definitely unexpected," Daly said. "It's great for our team."
Daly threw a one-hit, complete-game shutout in the Rainbows' 8-0 victory at Hawaii-Hilo last Friday. Daly took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, before giving up a single with one out. He walked the leadoff hitter to start the game before retiring the next 25 batters. He also struck out a career-high nine.
With this week's honor, Daly automatically is named to the watch list for the Roger Clemens Award, given to the national collegiate pitcher of the year, sponsored by the Greater Houston Baseball Organization.
Daly was also named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
Not bad for a guy who wasn't even in the starting rotation until last week.
Daly has appeared in 21 games, but last Friday's was just his fifth start of the season. He is 5-1 with one save and leads UH with a 2.35 ERA. He also leads the team with 71 strikeouts and 27 walks in 61 1/3 innings.
Texas A&M junior infielder/outfielder Blake Stouffer was named National Hitter of the Week. Stouffer hit .900 (9-for-10) for the week with eight RBIs in three games.
The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from the Division I conferences each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
UH (31-19) next plays a three-game series at Nevada, with single games Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The Rainbows then complete their regular season with three games at Les Murakami Stadium against Fresno State on May 19-21.
UH is 9-9 in the WAC and in fourth place. It clinches a spot in the May 24-27 WAC tournament with one win in its remaining six conference games. New Mexico State is 6-15 and has just three conference games left, and the top six of the seven WAC teams go to the tournament. San Jose State is 6-11 with six games left.
The Rainbows swept the Vulcans last week, outscoring their in-state rivals 25-3.
"I definitely think we can use last week as a building block for the stretch run," Daly said. "We had lots of positives."