Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso will tinker with his pitching rotation again this weekend in hopes of finding three consistent performers for the remainder of the season. Quaglieri out of pen,
into starting rotation
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comBryan Lee and Chris George get the starting assignments in the games Friday and Saturday night, but Trapasso brings William Quaglieri out of the bullpen to start the opener of Sunday's doubleheader against Hawaii-Hilo.
Trapasso has hesitated making this move because Quaglieri has been quite effective as a long reliever. The sophomore right-hander has a 2.81 earned run average, best on the staff of any pitcher with 30 or more innings of work. He is tied with Aaron Pribble for the most strikeouts, 27, and has walked just nine opponents.
But, Trapasso said it's not worth keeping Quaglieri in the pen if the starters don't keep the Rainbows in games to a point where his talent is beneficial.
Ricky Bauer, who had three starts earlier this year and struggled, has shown improvement in spot relief assignments and intrasquad scrimmages.
"Ricky was solid," Trapasso said after the freshman right-hander's outing against Rice on Sunday. "He needs to get innings. We need to prepare him for the future. The same is true for Jason Piepmeier. He had been throwing well in practice and intrasquad every week. He does not scare. He'll go out there and compete for you."
Piepmeier, a freshman right-hander, faced four batters in retiring the Owls in the ninth inning Sunday.
Trapasso also said he reserves the right to use Quaglieri and Bauer in relief in the first two games against the Vulcans if the situation so dictates.
Pribble returns to the bullpen while he works on mechanical problems that have diminished his effectiveness.
"Aaron still has a tendency to rush his body, which leaves his arm behind. That affects his velocity and command of his pitches," said Chad Konishi, UH pitching coach.
With Kevin Gilbride nailing down the job in right field, the only positions still in limbo are left field and center field.
Tim Montgomery was introduced to center field for the Rice series. Defensively, he is solid and probably has a stronger arm than the man he replaced, Arthur Guillen. Montgomery is hitting .238, Guillen .228.
Derek Honma, hitting .280 but playing with nagging injuries, started in left last weekend. Chad Boudon, hitting .143, but with more power potential if he can become more consistent at the plate, could claim the position.
If one of the younger players gets hot with the bat and Trapasso wants him in the lineup as the designated hitter, Scooter Martines can move to left.
The infield of Gregg Omori (.270) at first, Lane Nogawa (.375) at second, Cortland Wilson (.297) at short and Brent Cook (.373) at third is set. Omori, who barely hit his weight the first two weeks of the season, has steadily raised his average since getting untracked in the UCLA series.
Brian Bock is still the No. 1 catcher despite being 0-for-15 with one walk since he singled in the third inning of the series finale against Brigham Young.
"Brian is really struggling at the plate but he is catching very well. He's been calling good games. We just got to get him to get out of his head when he's at the plate," said Trapasso.
After the UHH series, the only nonconference action for the Rainbows is the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Easter Tournament. Western Athletic Conference action consumes the rest of the season.
Probable starting pitchers
When: Tomorrow, 6 p.m.; Saturday, 5 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m.
Where: Francis Wong Stadium, Hilo
TV: None
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Internet: kccn1420am.com
Hawaii (7-12)
W-L ERA K RHP Bryan Lee (Jr.) 2-1 4.66 22 RHP Chris George (Jr.) 0-1 7.36 19 RHP Will Quaglieri (So.) 2-2 2.81 27 RHP Ricky Bauer (Fr.) 0-2 7.65 17 Hawaii-Hilo (4-25-1)
W-L ERA K RHP Jason Castro (Jr.) 2-3 5.60 13 LHP Robert Shimabuku (Jr.) 0-5 9.09 10 RHP Jeremiah Wolske (Jr.) 0-5 8.59 24 RHP Daniel Lockett (Fr.) 1-1 3.54 16 Notes: Sunday's doubleheader is the only one on Hawaii's 2002 schedule. ... The Rainbows and Vulcans have played 108 games, with UH holding a 93-15 edge. ... Last year the 'Bows won all six games at the end of the season from UHH to finish with a winning record. ... The Vulcans are an NCAA Division I independent this season after being an associate member of the Western Athletic Conference for two years. ... The Vulcans leading hitters are Kaliko Oligo (.353), Keola Park (.323), Darren Chu (.279) and Jeremy Loque (.278). Nalei Sooto has four home runs. ... Defense (.931 fielding average) has hurt UHH and the Vulcans don't have or haven't had the opportunity to run much, stealing nine bases in 13 attempts. Opponents have been successful on 40 of 54 attempts.
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