’Bows set sights The Hawaii baseball team returns to Western Athletic Conference action tomorrow at 6:35 p.m. with the start of a three-game series against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Murakami Stadium.
back to the WAC
The UH baseball team hosts Nevada,
looking to keep the momentum
of a 3-game win streakBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Rainbows tasted a bit of success last week by winning their final three Easter Tournament games. The Wolf Pack have won three of their last four games, including two of three WAC games against Louisiana Tech.
Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso felt the biggest difference in the Rainbows the last three games was at the plate.
"We approached our at-bats better than maybe we have done all year. We just swung the bats like we intended to punish the baseball," said Trapasso. "This is the approach we have been working toward all year. We seemed to have figured it out and hopefully that will continue for the rest of the season."
The lineup is not expected to change too much for the Nevada series unless Scooter Martines, diagnosed with tendinitis in his left shoulder, is cleared to play.
"We are just not sure how Scooter will respond to treatment from day to day. I would say he is questionable for this weekend," said Trapasso.
Should Martines be healthy, Trapasso wants his bat in the lineup as the designated hitter. That would trigger at least two moves, with Gregg Omori moving from DH back to first base and Kevin Gilbride shuffling from first back to right field.
The same pitchers who earned the last three victories -- Chris George, Sean Yamashita and Ricky Bauer -- will start against the Wolf Pack. Bryan Lee will stay in the bullpen this week.
"Bryan would like to get back in the rotation and I wouldn't rule that out," said Trapasso. "If he stays within himself, he can pitch in any role. When he doesn't, his arm angle changes and he comes too much over the top. His ball is up and he gets hammered, otherwise he can be pretty nasty."
Yamashita was effective last week because he had command of his fastball and worked the inside part of the plate, something the UH coaches are trying to emphasize more.
"We've gotten in situations where we didn't do that enough and consequently hitters come up and they are comfortable. We don't want that," said Trapasso.
The Wolf Pack come to town with a .290 team batting average.
Hawaii's batting average, on the other hand, dropped 20 points during the recent losing streak, but rebounded a bit in the final days of the tournament to .264.
Hawaii is 12-20 overall, 1-5 in the WAC. Nevada is 14-15, 2-4.
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