But what would really make senior right-handed pitcher Ricky Bauer's University of Hawai'i baseball career would be winning a conference title and/or advancing to the 64-team NCAA tournament in June.

"From the get-go, I wanted to win the WAC, get far into a regional and hopefully to a World Series or something," said Bauer of his hopes and dreams when he signed with UH the summer of 2001. "This year, it might happen. We have a lot of depth. Rice lost some people, so we have a chance to shake it up in the WAC a little bit."

The Rainbows' quest for their first regional appearance since 1993 begins tomorrow night in the season opener against Alabama. Bauer is scheduled to start opening night for the second consecutive season.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Bauer has been everything UH coach Mike Trapasso envisioned when he saw his first recruit pitch in a Best of the West game in the summer of 2001. Already late in recruiting because he had been hired after the 2001 college season, Trapasso liked what he saw in the only outing he had seen Bauer.

"I called him that night and offered him a scholarship," Trapasso recalled. "There's no question you saw the projection, the possibility of a guy that could be very good. You could see the arm action, the thin, wiry body. You knew once he grew and got stronger, because of his arm action, he was somebody that could help you."

Bauer was an all-state pitcher at Mid-Pacific Institute. He said pitching coach Chad Konishi had recruited him for the University of San Francisco, where he was before UH hired him. There also were feelers from UC Irvine and Nebraska, Bauer said.

Then he was drafted by Boston in the 39th round.

"I thought I wanted to go (pro)," Bauer said. "Coming here, I found out I wasn't ready. I found out everybody up here was a lot bigger, better, stronger, everything than me. College really helped prepare me for that."

Bauer discovered that early. His collegiate debut was an 8-5 loss to Florida State. He lasted only 2á innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. He was 1-9 with a 5.79 earned run average that year. But the experience was invaluable.

"That kind of helped me out a lot, instead of being babied a little bit," he said. "They threw me out there in pressure times. I think it helped."

He lowered his ERA to 3.12 his sophomore year. With better run support than 4.08, he might have been better than his 3-5 record.

One constant in Bauer's career has been his uncanny control. He enters the season averaging 1.04 walks allowed per nine innings. He has no idea how that has developed.

"I just knew I hardly walked guys and people started to point it out," he said. "I sort of pride myself on it. I don't want to walk anybody."

Trapasso said Bauer's control is just natural.

"You work with guys on their mechanics and mentally in getting them to understand the importance of throwing the ball where you want," Trapasso said. "But you can't, with all your coaching and all the philosophy you want to come up with, teach a guy towalk 10 guys in 115 innings. That's just something he's got."

The years have gone by fast for Bauer.

"I feel I've accomplished a lot," Bauer said. "The win-loss record might not be great, but it doesn't matter. I've learned a lot since I've been here. The program's been great to me, so I felt I've gotten everything I could out of it."

Notes: Bauer had a bout with the flu over the weekend, but said yesterday he felt fine and that he should not be affected for tomorrow's opener.

Alabama is planning on using three left-handed starting pitchers in the series. Among them is sophomore Wade LeBlanc, Collegiate Baseball's Co-Freshman of the Year last season. He was 8-4 with a 2.08 ERA, completing eight of 15 starts.

Alabama's left-handed staff should not affect UH's batting order much because it is predominantly made of right-handed hitters. Second baseman Isaac Omura, a left-handed hitter, will still start, Trapasso said. But right-handed hitting outfielder Jose Castaneda might be used for the left-handed hitting Robbie Wilder.

Trapasso said redshirt freshman third baseman Jonathan Hee is making a push for playing time after a strong spring.