Hawaii baseball: Big challenge ahead for final home weekend
The Hawaii baseball team is out of the Big West title race, but it can muck things up for the team that is currently in the driver’s seat.
UH (20-24, 8-10 BWC) is seven games behind No. 6 UC Santa Barbara (41-7, 15-3) with six games to play in a conference that awards its automatic NCAA tournament berth to the regular-season champion.
Cal Poly (13-5) and UC Irvine (12-6) are the teams hoping Hawaii can end the red-hot Gauchos’ 10-game winning streak, and then some.
Coach Mike Trapasso just wants his group to play respectably in the team’s final home series of the season, and send the Rainbows’ five seniors — Maaki Yamazaki, Dominic DeMiero, Ethan Lopez, Kash Koltermann, and Colin Ashworth — out on a good note at Les Murakami Stadium.
UH is coming off a two-week road trip in which it went 4-4 (2-4 in Big West games).
“Long trip. Feels like we haven’t been at home in forever,” Trapasso said. “It’s good to be back and to play our last home series against probably the best team we’ll play all year. So I think that gives us extra incentive to go out and play well and send our seniors out on a good note.”
Stephen Tsai wrote about the UH seniors as well as the considerable prowess of the Gauchos.
Here's #HawaiiBSB coach Mike Trapasso on the final home series of 2019 against No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (40-7) this week, and his outgoing senior class. pic.twitter.com/7xA2tXOKod
— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) May 15, 2019
UH opens the series tonight at 6:30, followed by a 6:30 p.m. contest Saturday and 1 p.m. affair on senior day Sunday.
Also in play for the ‘Bows are posting winning overall and Big West records for 2019.
“I think all the guys just want to go out and play well,” Trapasso said. “The motivation would be there regardless because it’s our last home series, but when you’re playing for your seniors, when you’re playing a ranked opponent … anytime you put the uniform on there’s motivation to go out and play your best, in front of your home crowd or on the road, to show how good you are. Our guys are intent on doing that, playing good, clean baseball.”
UH concludes the season at Long Beach State next week. Record: 20-30 overall, 8-16 Big West
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME/RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/9/2019 | Alumni | LMS | W, 20-5 |
| 2/15/2019 | Portland | LMS | L, 4-10, 10 inn. |
| 2/16/2019 | Portland | LMS | L, 4-7 |
| 2/16/2019 | Portland | LMS | W, 9-5 |
| 2/17/2019 | Portland | LMS | L, 0-4 |
| 2/22/2019 | Iowa | LMS | W, 7-1 |
| 2/23/2019 | Iowa | LMS | L, 8-10 |
| 2/23/2019 | Iowa | LMS | L, 4-6 |
| 2/24/2019 | Iowa | LMS | W, 8-7, 10 inn. |
| 3/1/2019 | Longwood | LMS | W, 5-4 |
| 3/2/2019 | Longwood | LMS | W, 9-1 |
| 3/3/2019 | Longwood | LMS | W, 8-4 |
| 3/5/2019 | Longwood | LMS | W, 9-3 |
| 3/7/2019 | Oregon | LMS | W, 7-6 |
| 3/8/2019 | Oregon | LMS | L, 1-3 |
| 3/9/2019 | Oregon | LMS | L, 3-4 |
| 3/10/2019 | Oregon | LMS | L, 7-8 |
| 3/14/2019 | CSU Bakersfield | LMS | W, 7-4 |
| 3/15/2019 | CSU Bakersfield | LMS | L, 4-8 |
| 3/16/2019 | CSU Bakersfield | LMS | L, 4-5 |
| 3/17/2019 | CSU Bakersfield | LMS | L, 0-2 |
| 3/21/2019 | at Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio | L, 4-6 |
| 3/22/2019 | at Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio | L, 5-6 |
| 3/23/2019 | at Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio | L, 5-7 |
| 3/24/2019 | at Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio | W, 15-3 |
| 3/29/2019 | UC Irvine* | LMS | W, 10-2 |
| 3/30/2019 | UC Irvine* | LMS | L, 5-8 |
| 3/31/2019 | UC Irvine* | LMS | L, 0-4 |
| 4/5/2019 | UC Davis* | LMS | W, 9-5 |
| 4/6/2019 | UC Davis* | LMS | L, 3-6 |
| 4/7/2019 | UC Davis* | LMS | W, 13-6 |
| 4/12/2019 | at UC Riverside* | Riverside, Calif. | L, 5-16 |
| 4/13/2019 | at UC Riverside* | Riverside, Calif. | W, 15-3 |
| 4/14/2019 | at UC Riverside* | Riverside, Calif. | L, 3-4 |
| 4/18/2019 | Cal State Fullerton* | LMS | L, 2-5 |
| 4/19/2019 | Cal State Fullerton* | LMS | W, 8-6 |
| 4/20/2019 | Cal State Fullerton* | LMS | W, 3-1 |
| 4/24/2018 | at San Diego | San Diego, Calif. | W, 5-2 |
| 4/26/2019 | at Cal State Northridge* | Northridge, Calif. | W, 4-3 |
| 4/27/2019 | at Cal State Northridge* | Northridge, Calif. | L, 2-10 |
| 4/28/2019 | at Cal State Northridge* | Northridge, Calif. | L, 3-6 |
| 4/30/2019 | at Cal Baptist | Riverside, Calif. | W, 6-2 |
| 5/3/2019 | at Cal Poly * | San Luis Obispo, Calif. | L, 4-12 |
| 5/4/2019 | at Cal Poly* | San Luis Obispo, Calif. | L, 2-3 |
| 5/5/2019 | at Cal Poly* | San Luis Obispo, Calif. | W, 4-1 |
| 5/17/2019 | UC Santa Barbara* | LMS | L, 2-8 |
| 5/18/2019 | UC Santa Barbara* | LMS | L, 1-11 |
| 5/19/2019 | UC Santa Barbara* | LMS | L, 3-6, 11 inn. |
| 5/23/2019 | at Long Beach State* | Long Beach, Calif. | L, 0-4 |
| 5/24/2019 | at Long Beach State* | Long Beach, Calif. | L, 4-5 |
| 5/25/2019 | at Long Beach State* | Long Beach, Calif. | L, 4-9 |
| Home games played at Les Murakami Stadium | |||
| All times Hawaii time; schedule subject to change | |||
| *—Big West Conference game | |||
I’m not somebody who grabs a pitchfork and joins a mob and calls for a head coach’s ouster. But a conversation should get started about the future of the baseball program. I don’t understand why Dylan Thomas pitched 2.2 innings against Cal Baptist.
UCSB has a pitcher named Brecht. The headline would have been funnier if it read “UCSB’s Brecht distances Rainbows”. Brechtian theater is kind of awesome. Jacques Derrida taught at UC-Irvine. So the headline would read: “Anteaters deconstructs UH”