Rice will be
big test for HawaiiBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comPatience. It's a big part of baseball.
Who: No. 2 Rice (16-1, 3-0) at Hawaii (13-5, 1-2) WAC Baseball
When: 6:35 p.m. tomorrow; 6:35 p.m. Saturday; 1:05 p.m. Sunday
Where: Murakami Stadium
Wait on a pitch.
Wait for a signal.
Wait for a program to rebuild into a power.
The latter was part of the advice that Rice coach Wayne Graham gave Hawaii's Mike Trapasso last April when the Rainbows visited the Owls for a Western Athletic Conference series.
"He told me it takes time, that he didn't start winning big until his fourth year," said Trapasso, 13-5 in his second year at Manoa. "He made a great point. He had worked in the area for 30 years. He knew the scouts and the coaches. And he's in the best state for baseball.
"I feel good about the progress we've made. There's a lot of excitement generated by our young players. We've had only one recruiting class. This is really our first year with a program that hasn't done much in 10 years. We're off to a good start."
Last night's 4-2 exhibition win over Matsusaka of Japan didn't count toward Hawaii's records (13-5, 1-2 Western Athletic Conference). But the outing against the Japanese team, as well as Tuesday's 8-4 win over Hawaii Pacific, did count as time on the field as the Rainbows prepare for a three-game series with Rice starting at 6:35 tomorrow night.
"The ideas behind our midweek games were to keep our offense in rhythm and to develop depth, particularly our pitching depth," said Trapasso. "Rice will be a challenge. They are among the nation's elite. They're a program we want to emulate, where we want our program to be. They were a CWS team last year and, by all accounts, they're even better this year."
The No. 2 Owls (16-1, 3-0) flew in yesterday, bringing a 13-game winning streak and a lot of confidence after edging in-state rival Texas 2-1 in 10 innings. The Longhorns, the defending national champions, beat the Owls three times last season, including a 2-1 victory in the opening game of the College World Series.
Texas still holds a 204-21 edge in the series.
Rice starter Wade Townsend went eight innings. He threw 114 pitches, the last of which was clocked at 97 mph and also accounted for his 12th strikeout.
Other Owl pitchers in the starting rotation are: 6-foot-4 sophomore right-hander Philip Humber (4-0, 3.45 ERA), an All-American last season and a starter for Team USA at the World University Games; sophomore transfer Josh Baker (3-0, 3.30 ERA), a 6-foot-5 right-hander drafted high by the Texas Rangers out of high school; and sophomore Jeff Niemann (4-0, 1.48 ERA), a 6-9 right-hander. The top reliever is 6-5 junior right-hander David Aardsma (3-0, 1.26 ERA).
"The thing we have to get ready for is their velocity," said Trapasso. "They have 5-6 pitchers who don't just touch 90 mph, they are consistently there and above.
"And they have big, strong hitters who will go up there and drive the ball. They have guys who get two strikes on them and become even more dangerous hitters."
Trapasso said his team is not in awe of Rice.
"Sure, winning one would be good, but we're going after all three," he said. "Every game is 1/30th of our season. It will be a good test for us to see exactly where we are and where we're trying to go."
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