Banged-up 'Bows take on Bulldogs

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i will close its final homestand of the 2004 season with a Western Athletic Conference series against fourth-place Fresno State.

Hawai'i has 10 games left, seven on the road, nine of them WAC games. The Rainbows need six more wins to reach 35, a number that UH coach Mike Trapasso said he believes should warrant consideration for an at-large berth to the 64-team NCAA tournament. If it helps, they received three points in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Top 25 Coaches' Poll after taking two of three from defending national champion Rice, which dropped from third to fourth in the Sports Weekly, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball rankings.

"We've got our work cut out for us," Trapasso said. "We got beat two out of three by Fresno at their place. We didn't play particularly well and part of that was because of the way they (the Bulldogs) played."

But first things first. The Rainbows need to take care of their own business before worrying about the postseason. It begins by finding bodies to put on the field.

Catcher Creighton Kahoali'i tore the posterior crucial ligament in his right knee against Rice and is out for the season. His loss forced Matt Inouye to move from center field to catch. That would not be so bad except the team's original starter in center, Robbie Wilder, has hamstring and shoulder injuries that make him questionable for the series, Trapasso said.

Greg Kish, who sprained his left ankle on a previous road trip at Fresno State and missed the next six games, talked his way into the lineup as designated hitter against Rice. He went 2 for 7 with two sacrifices and two runs scored. Trapasso is hopeful Kish can return to the outfield. Otherwise, he will have outfielders playing out of their natural positions: right fielder Josh Green in center; left fielder Jaziel Mendoza in right; and DH Nate Thurber in left. Thurber has played left field the past four games after having been solely a DH.

"We're real thin right now and some of us just have to suck it up, play through it," said UH shortstop Brian Finegan, who has played in every game (100) since he got here last season. "Everyone's banged up. You're going to get banged up. Kish stepped it up and played hurt. I know he's not 100 percent. We just have to overcome it. That's part of the game."

Once they set their lineup, the Rainbows will have to deal with the Bulldogs, who have one of the better players in the WAC in center fielder Richie Robnett. He was named the National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, as well as the WAC's Player of the Week, after batting 8 for 9 with four home runs and seven RBIs in taking two of three from San Jose State.

Robnett was 6 for 9 with four runs scored, a double, a home run and four steals against UH at Fresno. He will put his 24-game hitting streak on the line against UH's rotation of Ricky Bauer, Stephen Bryant and Clary Carlsen.

For UH, the goal is as it has been since the league opener: win every series.

"I don't think it's feasible in any way for us to talk about sweeping," Trapasso said. "You go after every series the way we have, just win every series and you're in good shape. To bring up the thought of sweeping when we haven't even swept anyone in league this year is unrealistic. If we continue to win series the rest of the way, we'll control our own destiny."

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