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Rainbows rolling,
coasting into WAC

Hawaii has been up-and-down,
but here comes the conference
season

The euphoria of sweeping a series from Florida State was tempered somewhat by the two midweek losses to Winthrop.

Louisiana Tech at Hawaii When: Today and tomorrow, 6:35 p.m., Sunday, 1:05 p.m. Where: Les Murakami Stadium. TV: All games live, KFVE, Ch. 5. Radio: All games live, KKEA, 1420-AM. Tickets: $6 orange and blue sections; $5 red section; $4 seniors, and $3 students age 4-18, UH students in the red section. Parking: $3 Notes: The Rainbows and Bulldogs have played 19 games. UH leads the series 10-9.

Just how that affects the University of Hawaii baseball team as the Rainbows prepare for their conference campaign is anyone's guess. The Rainbows were picked to finish fourth in the Western Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll.

The goal of the players and coaches is to win the WAC, but that won't happen if the team continues to ride the roller coaster of up-and-down performances.

"We are a 12-10 team and I stress to everyone this is by no means what we will be tomorrow and it doesn't mean we're not going to be less inconsistent. We are better than we were 10 games ago, but our job is to get better. We have a lot of work to do," said UH coach Mike Trapasso.

Rice lost its starting rotation to the major league draft. That fact did not change the thinking of the WAC coaches who selected the Owls to win their ninth consecutive league crown.

If the Owls accomplish that, they will have swept the board since joining the WAC in 1997. Rice moves to Conference USA next year.

The Owls have been ranked all year and coach Wayne Graham has settled on two starting pitchers in right-hander Josh Greer, a transfer from Navarro College who is 5-0 with a 0.94 earned-run average, and freshman left-hander Joe Savery (2-2, 2.73).

Savery does double-duty, playing first base when not pitching. He leads the Owls with a .383 batting average, just one of two regulars hitting better than .300.

The Rainbows certainly feel they are capable of keeping the Owls from a title sweep. They have the pitching to stay in every game. As long as the defense and offense perform well, UH could be in the title hunt.

Hawaii opens conference play tonight against Louisiana Tech. The 'Bows are going with sophomore right-hander Steven Wright (2-2, 1.08 ERA), who is making his first start of the season after an impressive stint out of the bullpen.

Trapasso probably will use either Justin Costi (1-2, 3.60) or Ricky Bauer (1-1, 5.60) tomorrow and Stephen Bryant (4-0, 1.15) on Sunday.

The Bulldogs (7-14) have won just three of their last 13 games, but four of those losses were to ranked teams as LaTech coach Wade Simoneaux upgraded the schedule this year.

Right-hander Ryan Rupert (1-2, 2.87), WAC Pitcher of the Week after a complete-game, three-hit win over Nicholls State last Friday, starts for LaTech tonight. Right-hander Clayton Meyer (2-3, 4.67) goes tomorrow. Simoneaux hasn't named a starter for Sunday's finale.

"We're working hard in practice and getting ready. Our record now is 0-0," said Rocky Russo.

A look at the conference teams in the order they play Hawaii in the first round, with the overall record and conference record, if applicable, in parentheses:

Louisiana Tech (7-14)

Coach: Wade Simoneaux, third season (45-86-1, .345)

2004 WAC record: 10-20 (sixth)

Players to watch: RHP Clayton Meyer, 2B Brandon Haygood, OF Gil Laird.

Outlook: The Bulldogs were picked to finish sixth a year ago and did not prove the coaches wrong. They face the same challenge this season after finishing in a fifth-place tie with San Jose State in the coaches preseason poll. A .243 team batting average and a 5.84 team earned-run average are two reasons LaTech is 7-14 entering the UH series. The Bulldogs even struggled at home with a 2-9 record. Freshman shortstop Gary Holik has been a pleasant surprise with a .279 average. Haygood's .309 average leads the team. LaTech was swept by Louisiana-Lafayette earlier this year by scores of 10-0, 10-5 and 9-3.

Fresno State (11-14)

Coach: Mike Batesole, 10th season (326-230-1, .586)

2004 WAC record: 17-12 (second)

Players to watch: 1B Christian Vitters, RHP Ryan Penn, OF Nick Moresi.

Outlook: The Bulldogs started slow last year, matured, and finished strong to take second place in the league standings. They are picked to finish second this year. Three starting pitchers, Ryan Penn, Brandon Miller and Matt Garza, return. There is more pitching depth, but it is young and untested. However, FSU is off to another slow start with an 11-14 record. The offense is hitting .267 compared to .321 a year ago when it dominated most WAC categories. The earned-run average is down better than one run a game, but the defense has not been as solid as a year ago. The Bulldogs play a nonconference series with Iona this week before opening WAC play by hosting Hawaii next week.

San Jose State (10-8-1)

Coach: Sam Piraro, 19th season (569-423-6, 573)

2004 WAC record: 11-19 (fifth)

Players to watch: OF Travis Becktel, LHP Brad Kilby, OF Sam Hall.

Outlook: The Spartans, tied for fifth place in the coaches preseason poll, have the same challenge as LaTech. They also missed five games because of the California weather and got off to a 4-7-1 start. SJSU did not post consecutive wins until its recent six-game winning streak that ended with a 7-3 loss to San Francisco on Tuesday. Five regulars, led by Becktel's .416 average, are hitting better than .289. The team average (.285) has improved 14 points during the streak and the ERA (4.32) has dropped a full run per game. The Spartans will have momentum when they host Rice to start conference play tomorrow. Saturday's game is Piraro's 1,000 as SJSU head coach.

Nevada (9-7)

Coach: Gary Powers, 23rd season (683-521-4, .567)

2004 WAC record: 14-16 (third)

Players to watch: C Brett Hayes, RHP Ryan Rodriguez, RHP Travis Sutton.

Outlook: Hayes, a catcher, is the preseason WAC Player of the Year and No. 50 in Baseball America's Top 100 college pro prospects. He is off to a Hayes-like start, hitting .365 with a team-leading 20 runs batted in. Five other starters are hitting better than .300. Junior right-hander Tim Schoenlinger (2-3, 3.98 ERA), a transfer from Nebraska, has joined the rotation on a staff with a 4.76 ERA, two runs better than a year ago. Rodriguez is off to a 4-1 start. The Wolf Pack begins its WAC schedule next week at Rice.

Rice (15-5)

Coach: Wayne Graham, 14th season (597-243, .711)

2004 WAC record: 24-6 (first)

Players to watch: LHP/1B Joe Savery, OF/RHP Lance Pendleton, 2B Josh Rodriguez.

Outlook: Graham has replaced four starting pitchers who won 40 of 46 games a year ago and added closer Bryce Cox, a transfer from Paris JC, who owns three saves and a 2.08 ERA. Surprisingly, the team ERA is better now (2.30) than last year's final number (2.64). A noticeable difference is the team batting average that is down 35 points from a year ago. The Owls defense is not as solid this year. They have already made 30 errors compared to 51 in 2004. Yet, the Owls have pitching, pitching, pitching. Rice opens at San Jose State tomorrow.