Saturday, March 17, 2001
The University of Hawaii baseball team's starting rotation will undergo more tinkering this weekend. Childers moved into
By Al Chase
starting rotation
Star-BulletinSenior right-hander Wakon Childers will make his first collegiate start for the Rainbows in the final game of this weekend's three-game Western Athletic Conference series against Texas Christian.
UH acting head baseball coach Carl Furutani has named Childers the starter for Monday night.
"With the assortment of pitches Wakon has, he's a starter," Furutani said. "We've been bringing him along slow because of his surgery."
Childers had Tommy John surgery last year and has been used primarily as a setup man out of the bullpen.
Furutani believes it's not in Childers' best interest to warm up every game during a three-game series.
"Surgery takes its toll," Furutani said. "I told him I thought it would be better if he was on a more regular routine and we can control this better if he is a starter."
As a starter, Childers would pitch, have the opportunity to throw in the bullpen and do some light long-toss, once a week. Childers is 1-0 with a 2.61 earned run average in 1013 innings this season.
Childers will be the fourth Rainbow to start in the No. 3 spot. Gavin Garrick, Chad Giannetti and Matt Le Ducq all have taken a shot at winning the position.
Furutani says his No. 1 and 2 starters, Jeff Coleman and Sean Yamashita, have been doing a good job.
Coleman (1-3, 3.59 ERA) has run into some bad luck, Furutani says, and Yamashita (0-3, 5.97) has to eliminate that one bad inning that negates the good innings he works.
The series against the Horned Frogs (14-9, 5-2 WAC) begins with a game today at 12:05 p.m. Tomorrow's game starts at 2:05 p.m. and the finale begins at 6:35 p.m. Monday.
TCU is hitting .313 as a team and crushed nine home runs in a win over Iowa State Wednesday.
"They are hitting the darn ball," said Furutani. "They have a lot of players returning who have matured.
"For us, it's just a case of putting our nose to the grindstone and playing our game. But we have to do it for nine innings the way we did in the last game against Rice."
The Rainbows (8-13, 3-9) are in the early stages of a 19-game homestand and need to put some wins on the board if they are to be a participant in the WAC title race.
RAINBOW BASEBALL
When: 12:05 p.m. today, 2:05 p.m. tomorrow, 6:05 p.m. Monday Where: Rainbow Stadium TV: Live, KFVE Radio: Live, 1420-AM RealAudio: 'Net broadcast Click Here Tickets:
Orange, Blue levels $6 Red level $5 Ages 4-18 and 65+ $4 UH students $4 Parking $3
Probable starting pitchers
Hawaii (8-13, 3-9 WAC)
W-L ERA RHP Jeff Coleman (Jr.) 1-3 3.59 RHP Sean Yamashita (Jr.) 0-3 5.97 RHP Wakon Childers (Sr.) 1-0 2.61
TCU (14-9, 5-2 WAC)
W-L ERA RHP Chris Bradshaw (Sr.) 4-1 2.95 LHP Justin Crowder (Jr.) 3-2 3.34 RHP Chad Durham (Sr.) 2-1 3.54 Notes: UH infielder Lane Nogawa is out for the series with a pulled hamstring. ... Catcher Brian Bock's playing time may be limited by a shoulder strain suffered in a game at San Jose State. ... Second baseman Gregg Omori is day-to-day with a sore elbow. ... Danny Kimura and Patrick Scalabrini are nearly recovered from injuries and expected to play.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
