UH baseball team knows last-place Bulldogs tough at home
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
The University of Hawai'i baseball team will make its out-of-state debut this weekend at the farthest east end of the Western Athletic Conference.
The Rainbows (13-22 overall, 2-7 WAC) will try to snap a two-game skid at conference newcomer Louisiana Tech (15-20, 2-10) in Ruston, La., in a battle to stay out of last place. Hawai'i is 1 1/2 games ahead of the last-place Bulldogs.
The three-game series, which runs Saturday through Monday, is the first of five WAC series on the road for the Rainbows, who have only two home stands left.
They left last night and were expected to arrive in Houston this morning. They will make a 4 1/2 hour drive to Ruston, then rest a couple of hours before working out at night at J.C. Love Field. They will have covered four times zones during that span.
"That's a pretty good jump," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "We'll try to gradually change our biological clocks. From my personal experience, it's harder to head east than it is from east to west."
Once the Rainbows are settled, they will have prepare for a team that appears to be better than its record.
"Even the games they lose are close games," Trapasso said. "Their offense puts up pretty good numbers. They're very competitive, particularly at home."
Louisiana Tech was swept at Fresno State over the weekend, losing each game by one run.
Right-hander Lee Gwaltney (3-6 record, 2.57 ERA) has been the Bulldogs' ace. The other starters are left-hander Adam Kirkendall (4-2, 3.68) and right-hander Casey Blalock (5-5, 3.82). Each starter walks less than three batters per nine innings and has limited opponents to a batting average of .241 or lower.
The big hitters are right fielder Cullen Simmons (.342, 5 HRs, 25 RBIs), first baseman Kyle Humphreys (.336, 8 HRs, 30 RBIs) and third baseman Michael Hall (.333, 7 HRs, 21 RBIs). (Statistics do not include last night's game against Northwestern State.)
If traveling wasn't difficult enough, the Rainbows also have personnel issues to handle. Senior left fielder Derek Honma might be lost for the season after a magnetic resonance imaging revealed degeneration of the tendon in his ring finger. He has not been cleared to swing the bat by doctors, Trapasso said. But Honma is making the trip because he could be used for late-inning defense or pinch-running, Trapasso said.
"He still wants to play, but now it's an issue of quality of life," Trapasso said. "When he's 35, I want him to be able to lift his own baby. I feel for him so much. He's worked so hard."
Scooter Martines could move to left from designated hitter. Otherwise, Chad Boudon could come off the bench or Kevin Gilbride might move from right to left, bringing Tim Montgomery into right.
The Rainbows will stay with the same starting rotation of Chris George on Saturday, Sean Yamashita Sunday and Ricky Bauer Monday. They have performed reasonably well in their past two outings.
"I'm happy with the way we've played the last 12 games or so," Trapasso said. "We've settled in and we're playing like how I'd thought we'd play before the season started. We're 6-6 over the last 12 games. We're taking better approaches. We're getting better swings."
After a light workout tonight, the Rainbows will get in another practice tomorrow. They play 1 p.m. (CDT) games Saturday and Sunday, and 6 p.m. Monday.
The Rainbows last played Louisiana Tech during the 1980 Central Regionals. Hawai'i won, 2-1, before beating host Texas, 7-3, to advance to its only College World Series appearance. It was UH's only meeting with Louisiana Tech.
They will drive back to Houston for a three-game series starting Thursday against defending conference champion Rice.
All games will be aired live on KCCN AM 1420.
