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RAINBOW BASEBALL NOTEBOOK

First road trip
a long one

The University of Hawaii baseball team arrived in Sacramento after a red-eye flight from Honolulu last night.

The Rainbows are on their first road trip of the season, a 13-day trek that begins with a non-conference game against Cal State Sacramento tomorrow at Hornet Field.

It is the first trip for several of the younger Rainbows who are playing an important role with the team this season.

"I feel good about the younger ones because they have played on teams that have traveled a lot," acting Rainbow head coach Carl Furutani said. "The difference would be we have study hall, they have to do their school work and that takes some management.

"You kind of wonder why we would schedule this game and be on the road longer, but, when you look at our schedule, we'll be able to use our starting pitchers for an inning or two tomorrow. And, it's not just getting used to playing on grass, but getting acclimated to playing on the mainland."

The trip continues with three-game Western Athletic Conference series at Fresno State and San Jose State. FSU won two of three from the visiting Spartans this past weekend.

Power surge

In 12 games at Rainbow Stadium with the shorter fence, Hawaii has hit six home runs. Redshirt freshman left fielder Chad Boudon leads the club with four.

Gregg Omori and Patrick Scalabrini also have round-trippers.

Boudon says he doesn't go up to the plate thinking home run because only bad things happen.

"That's when I get pop-ups that don't go very far," Boudon said. "I consider myself a power hitter. I've been a power hitter all my life, but I also consider myself as someone who can hit for average."

He leads the Rainbow regulars with a .394 batting average and has a team-high 11 RBIs.

Scalabrini and Omori each had eight RBIs.

What's important

"We just have to focus on the little things," Furutani said. "We can't lose our concentration. The little things lead to big things, plus or minus. We've been playing good, but we can be so much better."

The Rainbows are traveling with a 25-man roster, the WAC limit.

New bats on deck

The Rainbows will have a new supply of bats for the trip. The old ones were wearing out and some had noticeable dents in the aluminum, one reason for an umpire to disqualify the bat.

"The companies have had problems with the bats. They've been good about it," Furutani said. "Instead of going on the road and have an umpire kick one out, I wanted to make sure we had new ones."

Statistics

The Rainbows are attempting to steal an average of almost four times a game. They have been successful on 34 of 43 (79 percent) of them.

Opponents have tried to steal just 19 times.

Hawaii pitchers have walked 44 and struck out 102.

The Rainbows have hit into 12 double plays and turned eight.

Injury report

Center fielder Derek Honma, who strained his right rotator cuff diving into home plate, is ready to play.

First baseman Danny Kimura, who pulled his left hamstring running to first base last Friday, is listed as day-to-day. He hasn't run yet, but will make the trip.

"Even if Danny isn't ready until the San Jose State series, it's worth taking him," Furutani said.

Scooter Martines has been taking batting practice and can throw, but the doctor has not cleared him to play yet because he doesn't want the senior outfielder diving.

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Al Chase, Star-Bulletin