HONOLULU – The University of Hawaii baseball team will begin its Big West Conference home schedule with a series against UC Davis starting Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium.
The teams will engage in 6:35 p.m. conference games Thursday, Friday and Saturday, followed by a 1:05 p.m. game Sunday that will not count in the Big West standings. OCSports channels 16 (SD) and 1016 (HD) will televise every game except Sunday’s, and all four games will be broadcast on radio via ESPN 1420 AM (KHLO in Hilo, KKON in Kona).
The Rainbow Warriors are 9-19 overall and 0-3 in the Big West coming off a winless road series at UC Irvine last weekend. UC Davis (17-7-1, 3-0) is coming off an 11-2 home victory over Saint Mary’s on Tuesday, which followed a three-game home sweep of UC Riverside. The Aggies actually have won six straight overall.
UH lost a single game at Loyola Marymount prior to the UC Irvine series, so the Rainbow Warriors’ losing streak actually stands at four straight.
Hawaii, batting just .240 as a team this season, continues to struggle at the plate. The Rainbow Warriors scored only seven runs total in the three losses at Irvine, including a shutout in the opening 2-0 loss. Junior designated hitter Alex Sawelson leads the team with a .277 batting average, to go with nine runs batted in and nine runs scored.
Freshman first baseman Eric Ramirez is right behind him at .276, with 16 runs scored and a team-high 19 RBIs and .393 on-base percentage. Junior outfielder Alan Baldwin went 5-for-5 with a triple in the middle game of the UC Irvine series and is batting .269 with 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Senior center fielder Kaeo Aliviado also is at .269, with a team-leading four home runs plus 16 RBIs.
UH’s starting pitchers continue to provide quality innings, with ace LJ Brewster leading the way at 3-3 with a 1.90 earned run average and 29 strikeouts in a team-high 47 innings. No. 2 starter Tyler Brashears is also 3-3, with a 2.74 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 42 and 2/3 innings. And senior Jarrett Arakawa is 1-0 with a 1.06 ERA and nine strikeouts in 17 innings.
The top reliever has been junior Matt Valencia (0-1, 1.80 ERA in 12 appearances).
UC Davis is led by senior first baseman/third baseman Nick Lynch, who leads the Big West in hitting at .402 and tops the nation in doubles with 16. Lynch sports a phenomenal .504 on-base percentage to go along with one triple, two home runs, 19 RBIs and 25 runs scored. Senior left fielder Austin March is hitting .346 with 13 RBIs and 18 runs scored, and a .432 OBP. Senior second baseman Tino Lipson is next with a .340 batting average, 15 RBIs and 20 runs scored.
The Aggies lead the Big West in batting at .298 for a conference-best average of 6.5 runs per game; they also feature a team ERA of 3.27 led by senior Raul Jacobson (3-0, 2.44 ERA, 37 K’s), sophomore Orlando Razo (4-1, 2.50, 29 K’s) and junior Max Cordy (5-0, 4.11 ERA, 21 K’s). Sophomore closer Zach Stone leads the Big West with six saves in 15 appearances, with 17 strikeouts.
SOFTBALL TEAM TRAVELS TO CAL STATE FULLERTON
The UH softball team will travel to Cal State Fullerton this week for its first Big West road series.
The series kicks off with a 2 p.m. (Hawaii time) game Friday followed by a doubleheader Saturday starting at 9 a.m. Friday’s game will be available for viewing via livestream at BigWest.tv.live, and Saturday’s doubleheader will be broadcast on ESPN3.com
The Rainbow Wahine (21-15, 2-1) are coming off an impressive home series victory over UC Riverside, dropping the first game, 2-1, but rebounding to sweep last Sunday’s doubleheader, 3-0 and 1-0.
UH pitchers strung together 21 straight innings without an earned run in the course of snapping the Highlanders’ six-game win streak. UC Riverside (29-9, 1-2) entered the series batting .310, but the Rainbow Wahine held them to a .167 average.
Sophomore Kanani ‘Aina Cabrales was 1-1 allowing just eight hits total and no earned runs in 14 innings pitched. She leads the team with four shutouts and nine complete games.
Freshman Brittany Hitchcock added a four-hit shutout with five strikeouts and no walks. Freshman third baseman/left fielder Rachel Lack hit .429 in the series, and junior right fielder Keiki Carlos batted .300 with a double and three runs scored.
Sophomore pitcher/first baseman Heather Morales and sophomore shortstop Sarina Jaramillo each is batting .333 and Morales leads the team in RBIs with 27, to go along with three doubles and five home runs. Catcher/outfielder Kayla Wartner is batting .320 with a team-high nine doubles, eight home runs and 27 runs scored. Carlos is hitting .297 with eight doubles, four home runs and 17 RBIs.
Cal State Fullerton is 24-13, 2-1.
UH’s SCHULMANN, NGUYEN WIN BIG WEST WEEKLY TENNIS HONORS
UH senior Nils Schumann and sophomore Cindy Nguyen were named Big West Tennis Player of the Week.
Schumann teamed with freshman Joakim Pinola at No. 1 doubles to earn a 6-2 victory over UC Davis, then won a marathon No. 1 singles match over the Aggies’ Alec Adamson, 5-7, 6-4, 10-8 (super tiebreaker).
Nguyen extended her No. 1 singles win streak to five straight and notched her 11th victory in the past 12 matches during a recent road trip. She won a three-set match vs. Illinois and then swept three other matches, and also won twice at No. 2 doubles with partner Rebecca Faltusz.
This marks the third time this season Nguyen has been named Big West Player of the Week.