RAINBOW PLAYBOOK
vs. Cal State Sacramento Hornets
First pitch: Tomorrow and Saturday, 6:35 p.m.; Sunday, 3:05 p.m., Rainbow Stadium.
Coaches: Hawaii, Les Murakami, 30th season (1,056-552-4, .656); Cal State Sacramento, John Smith, 22nd season (630-555-1, .532).
Season: Hawaii (5-10); Cal State Sacramento (3-7).
Series record: Hawaii leads the series, 25-11. The teams played three games at Rainbow Stadium in 1999. The Hornets won the opener, 12-4, with the Rainbows winning the next two, 10-3 and 21-4.
Probable starting pitchers: Cal State Sacramento, Matt Nielsen, left-hander (0-1, 6.35); Pat Edwards, right-hander (2-1, 4.86); Chad Elliott, left-hander (0-1, 3.68) ... Hawaii, Jamie Aloy, senior left-hander (1-1, 4.13); Randon Ho, senior left-hander (2-2, 9.15); Rich Snider, senior right-hander (2-3, 5.90).
Top position players: Cal State Sacramento, Casey Martines, senior catcher (.421 batting average, 6 runs batted in); Carlos Morales, junior infielder (.387, 5 RBIs); Ryan Brown, junior infielder (.371, 2 home runs, 7 RBIs), and Jesse Krebs, senior infielder (.326, 3 RBIs) ... Hawaii, Scooter Martines, junior outfielder (.385, 5 RBIs); Danny Kimura, junior third baseman (.356, 7 doubles, 14 RBIs); Jamie Aloy, senior outfielder/first baseman (.327, 10 runs scored, 3 RBIs); Lane Nogawa, sophomore infielder (.325, 4 RBIs); Derek Honma, sophomore outfielder (.308, 4 RBIs), and Kenn Wakakuwa, senior catcher/infielder (.295, 12 runs, 10 RBIs).
Interesting facts: In the last six games the Rainbows have raised their team batting average to .283 from .245 and the team earned run average has dropped to 6.39 from 7.67 ... Danny Kimura has seven multiple hit games, Kenn Wakakuwa has six ... Kimura, Wakakuwa and Shane Chan each have three multiple RBI games ... Jamie Aloy has the longest current hitting streak, eight. Kimura is next with six ... Future Rainbow WAC opponent San Jose State swept a three-game series from Cal State Sacramento last weekend by scores of 13-2, 7-3 and 4-3 ... Hawaii is 27 of 34 in stolen base attempts. Derek Honma is 6-for-6 and Sean Takamori is 6-for-7 ... The Rainbows have just three sacrifice bunts in 15 games.
Series keys: Most of the Rainbow hitters are swinging the bat with more success. Head coach Les Murakami is still waiting for Patrick Scalabrini and Sean Takamori to contribute on a regular basis ... One week before the opening of the Western Athletic Conference season, as many questions as possible need to have answers ... Murakami knows who he wants in his starting rotation and would like for Aloy, Ho and Snider to all have solid outings this weekend ... The Hornets have 11 juniors from JC programs among the new players as Smith rebuilds after an 18-39 season with just 11 returning lettermen.
On the air: All games live on on KCCN radio (1420 AM) and KFVE TV (Channel 5).
RealAudio: Live 'Net broadcast Click Here
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 orders available until noon on game days. Only Mastercard and Visa accepted. The Rainbow Stadium box office opens one hour prior to all games. $3 parking charge.
By Al Chase, Star-Bulletin
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
