By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Take me out to the Baugh game should be this week’s slogan for the Hawai‘i-Rice Western Athletic Conference baseball series at Rainbow Stadium.
With the Rainbows mired in a seven-game losing streak, that should not prevent baseball fans from watching not just the conference’s best pitcher, but possibly one of the nation’s best in Rice’s Kenny Baugh.
Baugh will pitch tomorrow’s opener against UH’s Matt Le Ducq. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
Baugh, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound senior right-hander, was 12-2 each of the last two seasons, posting earned-run averages of 2.26 and 2.22.
So naturally, hopes around the conference arose when the Oakland Athletics drafted him in the fifth round in June after completing his junior season of eligibility. But hearts dropped when he decided to return. The A’s had signed nine of their first 10 selections, except for Baugh.
"There are several reasons that I don’t want to get into about why I didn’t sign," explained Baugh from Hilo, where the Owls just completed a three-game sweep of the UH-Hilo Vulcans. "I just felt it was in my best interest to come back and get my Rice degree."
He knew there was a risk of not signing because as a senior, he has less leverage without the option of returning to school. Plus, could he really improve on his previous season’s statistics?
So far it’s yes.
He enters tomorrow's game with a 3-0 record and, get this, a 0.68 ERA. That’s just three earned runs in 39á innings through six starts.
His best pitch, he says, is the change-up. "It’s one of my strengths," he said. "I can throw it for strikes whenever I need to."
Baseball America lists Baugh as the 33rd-best college prospect. But the publication ranks him among the top three when it comes to command of his pitches, or putting them exactly where he wants.
Baugh said he doesn’t pattern his pitching after anyone. But he likes certain traits of different big leaguers.
"I like (Roger) Clemens," he said. "I like his aggressive nature, the way he challenges hitters. I like Pedro (Martinez). He has the best change-up in the game. Just watching him, you see how the change-up is such an important pitch. Of course, he has a good fastball, too."
Baugh lowered his ERA after pitching 6á scoreless innings in Rice’s 9-0 win against UH-Hilo last week. Only a team-imposed 100-pitch count limit prevented him from pitching longer.
Bad outings have been few in Baugh’s career. Ironically, one came last season against the Rainbows, who tagged him for six runs and 11 hits in six innings in a 10-9 UH win.
But Baugh returned the favor later in a series at Rice, allowing nine hits and striking out 10 in a 4-0 complete-game victory.
Baugh hopes a big league career is in his future. But he has a plan if it isn’t. He will graduate this spring with a degree in sports medicine. He is also considering law school and wants to be a sports agent.
"My father’s an attorney," he said. "I’m fascinated with what he does and gained an appreciation for law. He’s my main influence."
UH-MANOA
 Home at last: Left-hander Matt Le Ducq will make his starting debut tomorrow against Rice.
The Owls (16-3, 6-0 WAC) are ranked third by Collegiate Baseball and fifth by Baseball America.
Le Ducq (1-0, 5.51) has been moved into the first-day slot for this series only because No. 1 starter Jeff Coleman is coming off a six-inning relief appearance on Saturday, UH acting coach Carl Furutani said.
"He threw more than a hundred pitches in two separate days," Furutani said. "I’d rather he get more days rest."
Le Ducq replaces Chad Giannetti in the rotation for now, Furutani said. "Chad needs to work on a few things; he needs to be more consistent," he said. "He understands what has to get done."
Giannetti lasted one-plus innings at San Jose State, 4¡ innings at Fresno State and five against Nevada over his last three starts.
Le Ducq pitched six innings of relief for Coleman in Thursday’s game against San Jose State. Coleman lasted only one-third of an inning, which is why he returned to relieve on Saturday.
Sean Yamashita (0-2, 4.81) will pitch Friday and Coleman (1-3, 3.79) on Saturday.
Rice will start Jon Skaggs (4-0, 1.93) on Friday and Jonathan Gonzalez (3-1, 2.63) on Saturday.
The Owls have a team ERA of 2.09, compared to the Rainbows’ 5.78.
The Rainbows are coming off a disastrous road trip that saw them go 0-6. Rain forced the cancellation of one game and prevented the Rainbows from having full workouts earlier on the trip. The canceled nonconference game at Sacramento State was scheduled to give the UH players a chance to acclimate themselves to playing on the road.
"The situation was unfortunate for us," Furutani said. "When you can’t field ground balls (in practice), it makes a big difference."
The Rainbows committed 11 errors in five of the six games during the road trip.
Lane Nogawa started the last two games at shortstop for freshman Cortland Wilson, who started 15 of 18 games. Wilson has committed eight errors, two on the road trip. Furutani said they will share time at shortstop.
The Rainbows’ seven-game losing streak ties last year’s season worst. Two of the club’s longest skids came in 1997, when UH finished 22-34. The Rainbows won their opener before dropping eight in a row, then nine in a row later in the season.
UH-HILO
Back on the road: The Vulcans (3-17, 2-10 WAC) don’t play this week, but take their nine-game losing streak on the road for a three-game WAC series against Nevada March 16-18.
Hilo was just swept by Rice. In Monday’s series finale, the Vulcans pushed the nationally ranked Owls to 10 innings before losing, 9-7.
The Vulcans led 4-0 after five innings.
HAWAI‘I PACIFIC
Idle weekend: The Sea Warriors (8-10) lost four of six to Cal State-Dominguez Hills last week.
They will try to rebound against Teikyo-Post (Waterbury, Conn.) in an eight-game series starting at 4 p.m. Monday at Hans L’Orange Park in Waipahu.
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