The guy who took the mound for Hawaii yesterday, that's the Jared Alexander the Rainbows fans have been waiting for, the one who was the UH ace last year.

His first quality start of this season (six innings, two earned runs) was indicative of the Alexander of old, before a mysterious elbow injury slowed him down last year.

He adjusted his delivery yesterday, and the pop and location returned to his pitches.

Alexander sailed through the early going, then bounced back in the third after letting a couple of Sacramento State batters get on base. This is what you expect from the Western Athletic Conference's preseason pitcher of the year.

Alexander's earned-run average dropped from 8.31 to 7.31. If UH can count on him down the stretch of its WAC schedule, it could be the factor that puts them over the top to win the championship.

» Sacramento State center fielder Tim Wheeler is indeed a big-time college player. Two homers yesterday, speed and arm, too. Gaudy numbers.

But let's hold off on the Dale Murphy of his generation talk until he makes it to the majors.

What was up with letting that routine fly off the bat of Kolten Wong drop in front of him in the first inning? The sun, perhaps, but it was not a miscue you expect from a five-tool player.

Wong's just a freshman and he's much smaller, but I'd say the Rainbows center fielder is the better all-around player—especially defensively.

» On my way into the Kingdom MMA promotion, I ran into some unhappy bruddahs on their way out—all of the $15 tickets were gone, and they didn't have enough money for the higher-priced ducats.

I'm hearing only 100 tickets were made available at the highly publicized lowest rate.

That's just not right.

» On the positive side: Jason “;Mayhem”; Miller's comeback, of course. He lives up to his hype.

Among the amateur prelims, Ricky “;Hoku”; Wallace impressed—and not just because he won his fight in 44 seconds. He displayed a lot of class in making it known to the crowd that his opponent, Brandon Pieper, took the fight on two days' notice.

» It's been six years since Brian Viloria fought here in Hawaii. After his win over Ulises Solis for the IBF world championship, the light flyweight from Waipahu said he'll look into a title defense here.

“;I really want to,”; Viloria said yesterday from Manila, site of yesterday's fight. “;I'll sit down with Tom Moffatt and see if there's a possibility to do a show there.”;

» When people ask about how Hawaii football looks this spring, I tell them this: More team speed than in previous years, but the Warriors don't look as big overall as in the past.

» Saying it now: None of the three teams atop the American League standings today (Blue Jays, Royals and Mariners) even make it to the playoffs. It would be great, though, to see Ken Griffey Jr., take Seattle all the way in storybook fashion.

» Don't forget the memorial service for Les Keiter tomorrow at Outrigger Canoe Club. The public is asked to arrive at 7:30 a.m. and scattering of ashes takes place at 10:30 a.m.

A movement is afoot for a statue of The General at Aloha Stadium. Stay tuned for more on this.

Reach Star-Bulletin sports columnist Dave Reardon at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), his “;Quick Reads”; blog at starbulletin.com and twitter.com/davereardon.