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UH BASEBALL NOTEBOOK

Easter tourney was
litmus test

The 25th Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament presented Hawaii head coach Les Murakami with one last shot at testing several Rainbows to see if they will be a factor in the final 18 games of the regular season.

Murakami wanted to give pitchers Gavin Garrick, Chad Giannetti and Bryan Lee and outfielders Darin Baker and Rah-Miel Mitchell as many opportunities as possible to demonstrate their abilities.

Murakami considers Baker and Nate Jackson to be equal when it comes to playing defense in center field. Both have excellent speed, cover a lot of ground and have strong arms. The question is who should start? Jackson, who is learning to switch hit, still struggles at the plate. Baker, who Murakami says has become more aggressive at the plate, hit .412 in the tournament to raise his season average to .276 from .220. Jackson dropped to .205 from .258.

Mitchell took over in left field when Scooter Martines experienced stiffness in his left shoulder half way through the tournament.

"I wanted to get Rah-Miel some at-bats and I didn't want Scooter to get hurt, that's for sure," Murakami said.

Mitchell hit .429 in the tournament with a double and two triples. Look for Murakami to find a place for him in the lineup.

"For the most part, I liked what I saw in the pitchers," Murakami said.

"Gavin needs to have his hard slider working. Chad needs a hard slider and needs to be tough when things don't go right.

"Bryan comes after you and he has the least experience. He is an entirely different pitcher than he was in high school. He's much more under control. I like his make up. He needs a little better change-up and little better breaking pitch."

Murakami also used Kramer Aoki and Brain Bock behind the plate during the tournament to see how they worked with the starting pitchers.

"I'm not sure I can take Kenn Wakakuwa out of second base. His defense just makes us so much stronger up the middle," Murakami said.

The record that counts

The Rainbows overall record entering today's Western Athletic Conference series opener at San Jose State is 21-17. However, for NCAA and Ratings Percentage Index purposes, the Rainbows' record is 20-15. That's because the three games Hawaii played against Lewis-Clark State last week do not count since the Warriors are not an NCAA Division I school.

The Kozeniewski saga continues

The University has made a number of appeals ever since the NCAA Clearing House did not certify freshman shortstop Akaniao Kozeniewski eligible to compete, questioning an English course he took his sophomore year at Waianae High School.

Each appeal has been turned down according to Daniel Arakaki, UH Compliance Coordinator.

"At this point, we are trying to decide what the best options are," Arakaki said.

What frosts Murakami most about the situation is that it's not Kozeniewski's fault. He loses a year of eligibility if a future appeal is not successful and he can not receive athletic department scholarship aid for this year.

By Al Chase, Star-Bulletin