Posted on: Tuesday, May 18, 2004
UH baseball likely won't make up rainout
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
It is unlikely the Hawai'i baseball team will make up a rainout of Saturday's game against Fresno State.
The Rainbows leave tomorrow for their final road trip of the season. They will play at Nevada in a three-game Western Athletic Conference series starting Friday, play a non-conference single-game May 25 at Pacific in Stockton, Calif., and conclude with another WAC series May 28-30 at San Jose State.
"We'll take a look, but it doesn't look very feasible that we will be able to do anything," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "It's more important to finish second place in the league. We'll just see what happens. We have enough of an uphill battle at Nevada."
After Saturday's rainout spoiled the home finale, Trapasso said that Fresno State coach Mike Batesole was willing to accommodate the Rainbows during their road trip if they could make a detour to Fresno somewhere along the way. Besides logistics, another midweek game would also tax the pitching staff.
"We're going to play UOP on Tuesday, to play a Wednesday game, some place against somebody and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we don't have the pitching for that," Trapasso said.
Officially, second place is the highest UH can finish. Rice (20-3 WAC, 38-9 overall) clinched the conference title over the weekend with a sweep of Nevada (12-12, 28-25).
The Rainbows (12-11, 29-19) and Fresno State (12-11, 24-28) are tied for second, eight games behind the Owls.
Hawai'i needs to win the Nevada series to hold off the Wolf Pack and hopes Rice takes care of Fresno State.
The Rainbows will use their steady rotation of Ricky Bauer, Stephen Bryant and Clary Carlsen. Steven Wright is the probable starter for the Pacific game, but that might change if he is pressed into action in the Nevada series, Trapasso said.
The Rainbows had a light workout yesterday and was to have voluntary hitting in the batting cage this morning. They cannot practice today because of the opening round of the state high school baseball tournament, which is being held at Les Murakami Stadium.
Trapasso left for the Mainland last night for recruiting, but assistants Chad Konishi and Brian Green will be scouting today's state tournament games.
In other matters, for the second summer in a row, UH will be represented in the prestigious Cape Cod League.
Catcher/center fielder Matt Inouye has been assigned to the Hyannis (Mass.) Mets. The sophomore is batting .321 and leads the Rainbows with 19 doubles, 41 RBIs and 12 steals in 15 attempts.
Among his teammates are players he faced against Texas earlier this season. Catcher Taylor Teagarden went 5 for 12 with nine RBIs against UH, while right-hander Kyle McCulloch pitched three-hit ball over seven innings to beat UH in the series finale.
Hyannis has a number of players who were drafted out of high school. Inouye was picked in the 41st round by the Boston Red Sox in 2002 out of Mid-Pacific Institute.
Last summer, junior pitcher Ricky Bauer played for the Brewster (Mass.) White Caps in the Cape. He is enjoying his best season at 8-3 with a 3.30 earned run average.
"From a hitting standpoint, he's going to face some great pitching the whole summer," Trapasso said of the league that uses wooden bats. "I've sent kids there that hit .200, but came back better. So it will be a great experience for him."
Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8042.
