Rainbows, Spartans appear to be hitting their strides

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i is one of three Western Athletic Conference teams with winning records. The Rainbows played one — Rice, 21-6 — and now will face the other — San Jose State, 14-13-1 — in their conference home opener this weekend.

Hawai'i (17-10) returned from its most successful road trip in third-year coach Mike Trapasso's tenure. UH went 3-3, taking the Louisiana Tech series, 2-1, after going 1-2 at defending WAC and national champion Rice.

Like the Rainbows, the Spartans are on a modest roll, having won four of their previous six, including winning two WAC series after getting swept by Rice. San Jose State (4-5 WAC) took 2 of 3 at Nevada over the weekend and trails second-place UH (3-3) by a half-game in the conference standings.

"They're playing well," Trapasso said. "They beat Nevada at Nevada and that's a hard place to play and win a series. But we have to worry about ourselves first. If we play our type of game — that with intensity and toughness — we can play with anybody."

At Rice, Hawai'i faced four pitchers (three starters and one reliever) projected as high picks in the June draft. The Rainbows will see another one tomorrow night in right-hander Matt Durkin, a preseason All-American. He is 4-2 with a 4.88 earned run average. Durkin has 50 strikeouts and 23 walks in 55¡ innings with a batting average against him of .233. But he's coming off a rough outing at Nevada, which tagged him for five runs on eight hits in 6á innings in a 7-6 loss in which he got a no-decision.

The Rainbows are expected to be close to full strength. Center fielder and lead-off hitter Robbie Wilder sat out the last two games of the Louisiana Tech series. He is available, but still has some pain in his right shoulder, making it hard to generate bat speed, Trapasso said. His batting average has dropped to .211, although he has drawn 16 walks, second-highest on the team to Nate Thurber's 18.

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San Jose State vs. Hawai'i RECORDS: San Jose State (14-12-1 overall, 4-5 WAC); Hawai'i (17-10, 3-3) WHERE: Les Murakami Stadium TICKETS: $6 blue and orange sections; $5 red section adults; $4 65 and older red section; $3 UH students and for ages 4-18. PARKING: $3 RADIO: KKEA 1420 AM will broadcast all games live. TV: KFVE (Channel 5) will broadcast Sunday's game. PROMOTION: KKEA is sponsoring baseball card weekend. Cards of UH players will be passed out each game with fans needing to attend each game to complete the 38-card set. SCHEDULE: 6:35 p.m. Tomorrow — SJSU RH Matt Durkin (4-2, 4.88) vs. UH RH Ricky Bauer (5-2, 3.21) 6:35 p.m. Saturday — SJSU RH Corey Cabral (4-3, 4.97) vs. UH RH Stephen Bryant (3-2, 2.55) 1:05 p.m. Sunday — SJSU TBA vs. UH RH Clary Carlsen (5-3, 3.31)

The hot hitter is outfielder Greg Kish, who has a 12-game hitting streak and is second in the WAC with a .378 batting average. Combined with his 15 walks and three hit batsmen, Kish has a .495 on-base percentage.

Kish has been batting eighth in the order most of the season when Wilder starts. But when Wilder did not start, Kish moved to the two hole behind shortstop Brian Finegan (.304). Kish is 18 for 40 (.450) with 11 runs and nine RBIs during his hitting streak, which is tied for league's longest with Nevada's Ben Mummy.

Catcher Matt Inouye has been consistent and has raised his batting average to .360, including team-highs of 14 doubles and 25 RBIs. He has also spelled Wilder in center field the last two games.

Six of the nine starting hitters are batting higher than .290 — the others being Rocky Russo at .350, Thurber at .320 and Andrew Sansaver at .292. Second baseman Isaac Omura, who went 6 for 8 against Louisiana Tech, has raised his batting average to .279.

The Rainbows have been getting strong pitching from Stephen Bryant and Clary Carlsen. Carlsen went 2-0 on the road trip, getting the only win against Rice.

Tomorrow's starter, Ricky Bauer, is coming off a no-decision in a loss at Louisiana Tech and a loss at Rice. His four walks — one was intentional — in 53¡ innings is by far the fewest among the top WAC pitchers. His five wins are tied for the league lead with Bryant and Rice's Phillip Humber and Wade Townsend.

NOTES: Travis Mitsuda, a bullpen catcher for the Rainbows in 2002, died March 25. He was 21. Mitsuda played baseball and football at Iolani School, where he graduated in 2001. "He was one of the toughest players I've ever had," Iolani baseball coach Dean Yonamine said. "He played hurt, never complained and was always here to support his teammates. He was a big brother for the lower school (students). He was always willing to give back to the Iolani community. He was just a great person." ... UH recruit Joe Spiers of Valley View (Moreno Valley, Calif.) tied the California state record yesterday by hitting in his 43rd consecutive game. He can surpass Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Jason Kendall (Torrance High) with a hit tomorrow, Spiers' father, Mike Spiers said.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8042.