WAC host 'Bows have score to settle
POSTED: Thursday, May 21, 2009
This year's Hawaii baseball season has had it all.
Vinnie Catricala's walk-off homer against Mississippi State, Kolten Wong's three-homer game vs. Loyola Marymount and a school-record 63 long balls are just some of the highlights in a season that has seen Hawaii ranked as high as No. 20 in a major poll.
But ultimately, all of those accomplishments will take a back seat to what happens over the next four days. The Rainbows (31-24), seeded fifth after losing seven of their final nine conference games, open the NAPA Auto Parts Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament tonight against No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech at 7 at Les Murakami Stadium.
The Bulldogs swept the Rainbows in Hawaii three weeks ago in a critical series that ended any hopes of a regular-season WAC title.
“;They did sweep us here, but there's no way they're going to beat us five times in a row,”; Catricala said. “;It's going to be a good weekend, definitely.”;
Hawaii will continue to be short-handed entering the tournament, as catcher Landon Hernandez isn't expected to play. He took some practice swings on Sunday and again on Tuesday with pain, but didn't even attempt to hit in yesterday's practice.
“;I want to play,”; Hernandez said. “;I was able to catch, so we'll see.”;
Head coach Mike Trapasso wasn't as optimistic.
“;He's definitely not going to play (today) and I don't expect any vast improvements over the next couple of days, but we'll still hold out hope,”; Trapasso said. “;It's a big loss, but there's nothing we can do about it so I'm not going to talk about how it's a big loss because Kevin (Fujii) is going to do a good job and we'll overcome it.”;
The Rainbows took two days off before practicing yesterday for an hour. This is the ninth time Hawaii is hosting the tournament and first since 1992. Hawaii is 17-9 all-time in tournament games played in Honolulu and has won the title five times.
“;A lot of these WAC teams are made to play in their parks and we do so well here because we're made to play in this park,”; said senior Jayson Kramer, who will start tonight's game. “;That serves as a huge advantage, and I just feel that we've played well here all year and we're confident going into this tournament that we'll do well.”;
Kramer (2.17 ERA in eight home starts) has benefited from pitching at home as much as anyone. He's gone at least eight innings in five of those starts, including each of the last four. His one complete game came against the Bulldogs, when he took the loss despite giving up only two earned runs and no walks.
“;We're going to be going for the throat here because they did sweep us and we're going to go for some payback,”; Kramer said. “;I'm just going to go out and try to pitch well enough to put us in a position to win.”;
Only 5 1/2 games separated top seed San Jose State from sixth-seeded Nevada, which will open tournament play today at 11 a.m. Defending champion Fresno State is the third seed.
The tourney seems as wide open as it's ever been.
“;Anyone can take it, but I feel like we're the team to beat,”; Catricala said. “;We're talented enough to come through and win the tournament, and I think it's a big advantage playing here because it's a level field. It's going to be more baseball scores than high-scoring games like at other places and I think that's an advantage for us.”;
UH has until 2 p.m. today to decide on whether to allow KFVE to broadcast Hawaii's games on TV. As of now, the games aren't scheduled to be on television, but can be viewed at wac.tv.
3 UH PLAYERS MAKE ALL-WAC FIRST TEAM
Hawaii's Kolten Wong earned the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year award in addition to being one of three Rainbows selected to the All-WAC first team. Joining Wong on the team are senior pitcher Jayson Kramer and junior first baseman Kevin Macdonald. Rainbows sophomore shortstop Greg Garcia was named to the conference's second team.
Wong hit .424 in WAC play with five homers, 29 RBIs and 12 doubles. He's UH's first Freshman of the Year since Andrew McNally won it in 1993.
Macdonald finished tied for the conference lead with 11 home runs in WAC play and was second with 33 RBIs.
Kramer went 3-1 in six WAC starts with a league-best 4.15 ERA in 39 innings.
Garcia was named to the second team for the second year in a row after leading the WAC with five triples and hitting .316 with 24 runs scored.
Tommy Mendonca, the leading home run hitter in Fresno State history, won Player of the Year honors and San Jose state senior Ryan Shopshire won pitcher of the year, while Spartans coach Sam Piraro was named Coach of the Year.
Star-Bulletin staff
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1. SAN JOSE ST.
» Record: 39-18, 15-7
2. LATECH
» Record: 28-20, 13-11
3. FRESNO ST.
» Record: 28-27, 12-12
4. NMSU
» Record: 41-15, 12-12
5. HAWAII
» Record: 31-24, 11-12
6. NEVADA
» Record: 25-29, 10-13
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FIRST TEAM
Starting pitcher—Jayson Kramer, Sr, Hawaii SECOND TEAM
Starting pitcher—Daniel Simon, Jr, New Mexico St. Pitcher of the Year
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