’Bows still
have goals in
final gamesHawaii has assured itself of a
.500 record, but wants to wrap
up fourth place in the WACWAC standings
The Hawaii baseball team is finished with final exams and on the mainland concentrating on winning as many of its four remaining games as possible.
What position the 'Bows occupied in the Western Athletic Conference standings was not a topic of discussion between coaches and players during the season. There were other priorities. The first one was producing at least a .500 season, and that was assured in the Louisiana Tech series.
"The kids want to win at least 30 games so now the rest of the season could be a matter of pride," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso. "We've never brought up the standings, but I was looking at the conference schedule to see who everyone was playing last week and we may mention the standings in practice."
What caught Trapasso's eye was San Jose State hosting Rice for three games last weekend. Rice won two of the three games. The Rainbows would jump into fourth place by beating the Spartans at least twice this week. To be the sole occupant of fourth in the final standings, UH needs Nevada to beat host Louisiana Tech at least twice.
The Wolf Pack had their slim chances of getting an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament dashed last weekend when visiting Fresno State took two of three. Nevada also will be playing for pride this weekend.
"It all boils down to can we go out there and win two out of three?" said Trapasso.
The Rainbows (28-24, 9-18 WAC) start the trip tomorrow with a nonconference game against UC Irvine at Anteater Ballpark, a stadium with natural grass and dimensions of 335-380-405-380-355 from left to right.
Junior right-hander Nick Ponomarenko (4-1, 4.42 earned run average) will start for UH tomorrow. UCI will counter with freshman right-hander Chris Nicoll (0-2, 4.46).
The Anteaters, in the second season of the rebirth of their baseball program, are 20-35. They were swept by No. 22 UC Riverside last weekend, have lost five consecutive games and finished fifth in the Big West Conference.
Trapasso will use the same starting rotation against San Jose State he has counted on the last four conference series. Ricky Bauer (3-5, 2.96 ERA), a sophomore right-hander, starts Friday. Senior right-hander Chris George (8-6, 4.62) takes the mound Saturday and Keahi Rawlins (5-4, 3.88), a freshman right-hander, starts the season finale Sunday.
The Hawaii offense is led by freshman catcher/outfielder Matt Inouye, who is hitting .354 with 24 runs batted in. Brian Finegan and Brent Cook are the top RBI producers with 32 and 31.
Notes: All four games will be broadcast live on 1420-AM ... Reid Matsushima, a freshman left-hander out of Punahou, is a redshirt for UCI this year. He is the son of former Rainbow lineman Harris and Karen Matsushima. ... The Anteaters lead the all-time series, 7-3.
BACK TO TOP |
WAC standings
WAC games Overall W L Pct. GB W L Rice 23 4 .852 -- 46 9 Nevada 17 9 .654 5 1/2 30 23 Fresno State 13 14 .481 10 28 27 San Jose State 9 17 .346 13 1/2 23 28 Hawaii 9 18 .333 14 28 24 x-Louisiana Tech 9 18 .333 14 17 32 x-also has one nonconference tie
Tomorrow
Hawaii at UC Irvine, 4 p.m.
Friday
Hawaii at San Jose State, 4 p.m.
Fresno State at Rice
Nevada at Louisiana TechSaturday
Hawaii at San Jose State, 10 a.m.
Fresno State at Rice
Nevada at Louisiana TechSunday
Hawaii at San Jose State, 10 a.m.
Fresno State at Rice
Nevada at Louisiana TechEnd regular season
