’Bows begin an
8-game homestandHawaii faces a San Jose State
team that won 2 of 3 at Nevada
The Hawaii baseball team opens a two-week, eight-game homestand tomorrow night against San Jose State, the team that is just half a game behind the second-place Rainbows in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
Although the Rainbows just started conference play, tomorrow's game marks the halfway point in their 56-game schedule. They have just four nonconference games left, including two against Sacramento State next week. The other 24 games are against WAC opponents.
San Jose State at Hawaii
When: Tomorrow and Saturday, 6:35 p.m.; Sunday, 1:05 p.m.
Where: Murakami Stadium
TV: Sunday live, KFVE, Ch. 5
Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM
Tickets: $6 Orange, Blue levels; $5 Red level; $4 seniors, children age 4-18, UH students
Parking: $3
San Jose State (14-13-1, 4-5 WAC) unleashed a potent offense to take two of three from Nevada in Reno last week. The Spartans collected 44 hits and scored 33 runs.
The Spartans managed just six hits Tuesday and were blanked by No. 1 Stanford 5-0.
"San Jose is playing well right now. They are swinging the bats better," said UH coach Mike Trapasso. "That is no surprise because Sam (Piraro, SJSU head coach) is back. I think overall they are better in every phase because Sam is back at the helm. It was just a tough deal for the players and coaches last year with Sam's illness (bone-marrow cancer)."
Hawaii enjoyed a similar weekend at Louisiana Tech, where the 'Bows amassed 42 hits and 27 runs.
Murakami Stadium is not as hitter-friendly as Nevada's Peccole Park or Tech's J.C. Love Field. Effective pitching, solid defense and execution should be the deciding factors this weekend.
The 'Bows need exactly what they received from their starting pitchers in five of the six games on the recent road trip -- quality performances that keep the bullpen inactive through at least six or seven innings.
Trapasso will use the same starting rotation, Ricky Bauer tomorrow, Stephen Bryant on Saturday and WAC Pitcher of the Week Clary Carlsen on Sunday.
Piraro sends Matt Durkin, a preseason All-America pick, to the mound tomorrow. The junior right-hander can hit 96 miles per hour with his fastball. Sophomore right-hander Corey Cabral, who handcuffed the Rainbows on four hits for 7 2/3 innings in a win here last year, is SJSU's Saturday starter. Cabral's best pitches are his slider and sinker.
Piraro has not announced his Sunday pitcher, but he must be making the right choice, as the Spartans have won conference series with victories the past two Sundays.
Hawaii, hitting .292 as a team, is led by Greg Kish at .378, followed by Matt Inouye (.360) and Rocky Russo (.350). Inouye, with 25 runs batted in, and Nate Thurber, with four homers, lead those categories.
SJSU's top hitter is senior third baseman Kevin Frandsen (.348), owner of an eight-game hitting streak. Freshman first baseman Brandon Fromm leads the Spartans' power plant with five homers and 21 RBIs.
Trapasso plans to start the same lineup tomorrow used in all three wins on the recent road trip. That means Inouye is in center field and Creighton Kahoali'i will catch.
The game approach Trapasso wants from his team has not changed.
"We want to play well and play with energy and toughness. If we do that, then we have a chance to win."
