Tatsuno on Hall of Fame ballot

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Maybe the second time around will be better for Hawaii pitching legend Derek Tatsuno.

Tatsuno, named one of three Players of the Century by Collegiate Baseball in 1998, was passed over last year for the inaugural class of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tatsuno is on the ballot again this year, among 49 other college baseball greats. The class of 2007 will be announced later this month.

"The final call for voting is midnight (next Monday)," said UH radio play-by-play man Don Robbs, one of 90 voters.

Tatsuno had a 40-6 record in three seasons, and set still-standing NCAA records of 20 wins and 245 strikeouts in 1979.

Bob Horner (Arizona State), Dave Winfield (Minnesota), Robin Ventura (Oklahoma State), Will Clark (Mississippi State) and Brooks Kieschnick (Texas) were the players inducted last year. Coaches Bobby Winkles (Arizona State), Cliff Gustafson (Texas), Skip Bertman (Louisiana State), Ron Fraser (Miami) and Rod Dedeaux (USC) were also voted in.

Hawaii coach Les Murakami won 1,079 games in 30 seasons and took the Rainbows to 11 NCAA Tournaments and the College World Series championship game in 1980. He is in the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, but is not among the nominees this year for the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ian Harrington: Struck out eight while giving up only one unearned run

WAC tosses UH's Harrington third weekly baseball honor

The Harrington home in Renton, Wash., just lost some more wall space.

Hawaii senior left-hander Ian Harrington received the Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week award yesterday. It is the third of his career and second of the season.

"I give them to my mom," Harrington said of the framed certificates.

Harrington (3-3) allowed just one unearned run while yielding six hits, striking out eight and walking two in UH's 20-1 victory over Chicago State last Thursday. The series-opening win set the tone for the Rainbows' five-game sweep.

"I just try to have respect for every opponent," Harrington said when asked if his approach was different against the winless Cougars than it is against other teams.

"If we throw pitches where we want to and get to counts we need to, we can be successful against anybody. If we realize there's a difference (in the level of play) we try not to think about it a whole lot."

Historic rivals:

UH hosts old nemesis Arizona in a three-game series Friday and Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon. The Rainbows' storied history includes two losses to the Wildcats in the 1979 Midwest Regional in Tucson, and two more in the CWS the next year for the title.

The last time the schools met was in a three-game series to open the 1992 season, with the Rainbows winning two.

That was also the year that Pepperdine knocked Hawaii out in the final of the West Regional -- also in Tucson. The coach of that Waves team was Andy Lopez, who is now the Arizona head man.

Pepperdine then-third baseman Mark Wasikowski had played for UH as a freshman in 1990. Wasikowski became an assistant for Lopez, and followed him to Florida and now Arizona.

Two UH standouts on the 1992 team, Bill Blanchette and Scott Craven, had transferred from Pepperdine.

Hawaii leads the series with Arizona, 9-8.

Short hops:

Sacramento State (4-11) surprised host Louisiana Tech (13-8), taking two of three in their series last weekend that signaled the start of WAC play. ... UH starts WAC competition with a March 23-25 three-game set against visiting Nevada. ... LaTech and Hawaii are preseason co-favorites (coaches' poll) to win the league. ... UH leads the WAC in pitching with a 3.05 ERA, and Josh Schneider is the top individual with a 1.97 ERA. ... UH's Kris Sanchez leads the conference in hits (31), RBIs (31), doubles (nine) and total bases (59). He's second in batting (.437) to San Jose State's Donato Giovanatto (.455). ... Nevada's Konrad Schmidt was named WAC Hitter of the Week. He went 6-for-9 against UNLV.