Rainbow Playbook
vs. San Diego Toreros
First pitch: Tomorrow and Friday, 6:35 p.m.; Saturday, 3:05 p.m., Rainbow Stadium.
Coaches: San Diego, Rich Hill, 13th year (392-276-2, .587); Hawaii, Les Murakami, 30th year (1,051-545-4, .658).
Season: San Diego (3-2); Hawaii (0-3).
Series record: Hawaii leads the series, 2-0. In the last meeting, May 4, 1999, the Rainbows edged the Toreros, 4-3, at San Diego.
Probable starting pitchers: San Diego, Ryan Hamilton, senior right-hander (1-0, 0.00); Mike Amundson, senior right-hander (0-0, 12.00); Kevin Gray, senior right-hander (0-1, 9.00). Hawaii, Randon Ho, senior left-hander (0-1, 23.14); Rich Snider, senior right-hander (0-1, 11.57); Chad Giannetti, freshman right-hander (0-0, 6.75).
Top position players: San Diego, Mike McCoy, freshman infielder (.500, 2 RBIs); Joe Lima, sophomore outfielder (.333, 3 RBIs); Kevin Reese, senior outfielder (.273, 7 RBIs). Hawaii, Danny Kimura, junior third baseman (.385, 4 RBIs); Patrick Scalabrini, junior shortstop (.273, 1 RBI); Lane Nogawa, sophomore second baseman (.273).
Interesting facts: This is the first time the teams have played each other in Hawaii. The Toreros, members of the West Coast Conference, won 3-of-5 against Hawaii-Hilo to open their season. Head coach Rich Hill sent 13 different pitchers to the mound against the Vulcans. Hill was head coach at San Francisco when the Dons opened the season at Rainbow Stadium in 1998. USD assistant coach Chris Cannizzaro played many games against the Rainbows when he was a second baseman for San Diego State. ... Shane Chan's inside-the-park home run last Saturday was the third by a Rainbow. Robert Mederios did it in 1997 and Darren Blakely accomplished the feat in 1998.
Series keys: The Rainbow pitchers need to learn from their mistakes against Florida and pitch smart in this series. The UH batters have to show more discipline at the plate when it comes to pitch selection. The Rainbows struck out 11 times in each game against the Gators. With clean-up hitter Scooter Martines out with a strained left shoulder, right-fielder Sean Takamori waiting for academic clearance and freshman infielder Akaniao Kozeniewski waiting for a ruling on his eligibility from the NCAA, Murakami will continue to play a lot of people. The lineup is far from being set.
On the air: All three games live on KCCN radio (1420 AM).
Tickets: $6 orange and blue sections, $5 red section. $4 senior citizens (65 and over), students 4-18 and UH students with valid ID. Available at the Stan Sheriff Center, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by telephone, 944-2697 ($1 fee assessed per ticket). Telephone order available until noon on game days. Only Mastercard and Visa accepted. The Rainbow Stadium box office opens one hour before all games. $3 parking charge.
By Al Chase
