Mike’s boys
take on Dons

The Hawaii Rainbows start their second road trip of the season against the San Francisco Dons tomorrow in a nonconference game at unique Benedetti Diamond.

"That park has more character than any other in college baseball. I love playing there," said UH coach Mike Trapasso.

There are dorms just outside the fence on the first- and third-base sides, a backstop that is very close to the plate and with a screen that extends out toward the plate to keep foul balls from hitting the nearby buildings. The dimensions are 335 feet to left, 415 to center and 320 to right with a 10-foot high fence.

The Dons (20-9), who play UC Davis today, are enjoying one of their best seasons in years. They have won 11 of their last 13 games and are in second place in the West Division of the West Coast Conference with a 7-2 record. USF has a team batting average of .296 and an earned-run average of 2.63.

The 'Bows (15-17 overall, 2-6 WAC) will travel with nine pitchers and tomorrow's game will be a staff effort.

"I'm not going to burn anyone on the staff with Nevada coming up. I don't see anyone going more than two innings," Trapasso said.

The trip continues Friday through Sunday against Western Athletic Conference opponent Nevada at Reno. The Wolf Pack (15-10, 4-2) went on the road last week and swept Louisiana Tech. They host California in a nonconference game today.

"It's tough to play in Reno, but those games give us an opportunity to get back into the hunt," said Trapasso.

Hawaii is 1-11 at Peccole Park. The 'Bows' first win there came in the second game of last year's series.

"It's bang ball," said UH closer Darrell Fisherbaugh. "It's the worst park to pitch in. The wind blows out all day. "We pulled together after the last road trip and I think that will help us on this road trip."

One spark missing on the last road trip that returned this past week for UH was the hitting of leadoff batter Joe Spiers.

The freshman shortstop was 1-for-18 with two walks on the last trip. Against San Jose State he was 8-for-13 with one walk, the kind of on-base percentage the Rainbows need.

"I made some minor adjustments on my swing. I got away from my approach on the road, was taking too many pitches," said Spiers. "I spent time in the cage working on a couple of drills and tried to be more aggressive this week."

Five of his hits against SJSU came on the first or second pitch.

Trapasso tentatively will go with starters Stephen Bryant, Colby Summer and Justin Costi in the Nevada series.