HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii baseball team returns to Big West Conference action this weekend with a three-game home series vs. Long Beach State at Les Murakami Stadium.
The series opens with a 6:35 p.m. game Friday, followed by another 6:35 p.m. game Saturday and Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. finale. Friday and Saturday’s games will be televised live statewide by OCSports.
The Rainbow Warriors (19-25 overall, 3-12 Big West) are coming off a four-game home sweep of New York Institute of Technology last weekend.
UH Friday night starter Matt Cooper is 4-4 with a 1.62 earned run average, with 82 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings. Scott Squier is 4-4 with a 3.04 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 74 innings and Scott Kuzminsky is 4-5 with a 2.68 ERA. Jarrett Arakawa, who sat out the last two series while resting an injured left (throwing) shoulder, is 2-1 with a 2.36 ERA.
Adam Hurley leads the regulars in hitting with a .316 batting average, Kaeo Aliviado is hitting .304 with 22 runs batted in, and Marc Flores is batting .300 with a team-leading five home runs and 38 RBIs.
Long Beach State (23-23, 9-6) is coming off a 6-3 nonconference home loss to San Diego State on Tuesday, after taking two of three Big West games from Cal State Fullerton at home last weekend. The Dirtbags are 3 ½ games behind second-place Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (39-9, 14-4) in the league standings and are trying to keep their NCAA postseason hopes alive.
Victories last Friday and Saturday over Cal State Fullerton capped a stunning four-game stretch of shutouts for Long Beach State. As a pitching staff, the Dirtbags did not allow a run in 41 consecutive innings between April 26 and May 4, and their 10 shutouts this season is a school and Big West record.
Friday night starter Andrew Rohrbach, a sophomore, is the reigning Big West Pitcher of the Week after scattering seven hits, striking out a career-high nine and walking none in a 1-0 whitewash. He is now 5-1 with a 2.03 ERA.
SOFTBALL TEAM WRAPS UP SEASON ON ROAD: The Rainbow Wahine softball team will conclude its season this weekend with a three-game road series at UC Davis.
UH (21-26, 6-12 Big West) is coming off a two-games-to-one series loss at home to Cal State Northridge last weekend. The Rainbow Wahine won their Senior Day finale, 7-3, on Saturday.
UC Davis (19-32, 7-11) is coming off a two-game nonconference doubleheader split vs. Saint Mary’s at home on Wednesday.
NGUYEN TO MAKE UH HISTORY AT NCAA TOURNEY: Freshman Cindy Nguyen became the first Rainbow Wahine player ever to be selected as an individual to play in the NCAA Division I women’s tennis championships, set for May 21 to 26 in Athens, Ga.
Nguyen, from Long Beach, Calif., was the highest-ranked player from the Big West after the regular season, earning the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. She is one of 15 automatic qualifiers who will join 49 at-large selections in the 64-player field.
Nguyen led Hawaii with a 22-4 record in singles competition and was 17-3 in doubles; she played all but one match at the No. 1 position. Nguyen is riding an 11-match win streak, in which she helped the Rainbow Wahine finish the season with nine victories in 11 dual matches.
