Tuesday, February 9, 1999
Pollsters notice
baseball ’Bows
The baseball team's quick start
By Al Chase
lands it a spot in national
rankings at No. 23
Star-BulletinThe Hawaii Rainbows' early showing has brought national recognition to the program.
The 'Bows (8-1) are ranked No. 23 in the first regular-season Collegiate Baseball poll, released yesterday.
Hawaii was not ranked in Baseball America's first poll of the season.
"It's kind of too early to be getting really excited about the rankings," Rainbow head coach Les Murakami said. 'The only think you've got to be happy about when you're ranked is that it's because you're winning. For the kids it's very good. It gives them a sense of pride, some bragging rights and they know they've done well so far. I'm happy for them."
Wichita State (0-0) is No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and Rice (6-1), picked to win the Western Athletic Conference, is No. 3.
The Shockers start a 10-game trip in the islands with consecutive doubleheaders against the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Kailua-Kona.
On Feb. 19, Wichita State starts a three-game series against the Rainbows at 6:35 p.m. That afternoon, Hawaii Pacific plays WSU at Rainbow Stadium at 3 p.m.
Hawaii hosts the 0-4 Gaels of St.Mary's (Calif.) this weekend.
The ranking won't have any direct meaning for the NCAA selection committee should the 'Bows need an at-large regional berth to enter the NCAA regionals.
"Your power rating is most important, and they look at what you've got, whether you've got injuries and how you're doing at the end," Murakami said. "Last year we started 16-3 and were ranked 13th or 14th and then we started getting people hurt. But this year we're getting people back, so I think we're going to get better."
Collegiate Baseball Poll
Record Pts Pvs 1. Wichita State 0-0-0 482 1 2. Florida State 6-0-0 479 9 3. Rice 6-1-0 478 4 4. Long Beach State 2-1-0 474 5 5. Auburn 6-0-0 470 12 6. Florida 2-0-0 468 14 7. Louisiana State 0-0-0 466 7 8. Miami 3-2-0 465 6 9. Southern California 1-3-0 461 3 10. Alabama 0-0-0 460 10 11. Georgia Tech 2-4-0 457 2 12. Stanford 3-3-0 455 8 13. Texas Tech 4-0-0 453 13 14. Cal St.-Fullerton 1-2-0 451 11 15. Texas A&M 3-0-0 448 17 16. South Carolina 2-0-0 445 15 17. Texas 5-0-0 442 -- 18. UCLA 4-5-0 440 16 19. Arkansas 1-0-0 435 18 20. Oklahoma State 1-0-0 434 19 21. Arizona 9-0-0 430 -- 22. Clemson 0-0-0 428 20 23. Hawaii 8-1-0 425 -- 24. Washington 0-0-0 419 24 25. Baylor 1-2-0 417 22
Baseball America Poll
Record Pvs 1. Florida State 6-0 4 2. Rice 6-1 6 3. Long Beach State 2-1 2 4. Southern California 1-3 1 5. Wichita State 0-0 5 6. Florida 2-0 10 7. Miami 3-2 3 8. Louisiana State 0-0 8 9. Texas A&M 3-0 11 10. Stanford 3-3 7 11. Auburn 6-0 18 12. Arizona State 11-3 12 13. Alabama 0-0 13 14. Clemson 0-0 14 15. North Carolina 0-0 16 16. Georgia Tech 2-4 9 17. Cal State Fullerton 1-2 15 18. Wake Forest 0-0 17 19. Texas Tech 4-0 19 20. Texas 5-0 -- 21. Washington 0-0 20 22. Oklahoma State 1-0 21 23. Arkansas 1-0 22 24. Houston 1-0 24 25. South Carolina 2-0 25
