HONOLULU – The University of Hawaii baseball team will play host to No. 7-ranked UC Santa Barbara this weekend in a three-game Big West Conference series at Les Murakami Stadium.
The series opens at 6:35 p.m. Friday, followed by a 6:05 p.m. game Saturday and the finale at 1:05 p.m. Sunday. OC Sports channels 16 (SD) and 1016 (HD) will televise Friday’s game live statewide, and ESPN 1420 AM (KHLO in Hilo, KKON in Kona) will broadcast all three games via radio.
The Rainbow Warriors are 14-24 overall, 5-7 in the Big West coming off a 2-1 home conference series victory over Cal State Northridge last weekend. UCSB (29-9, 6-3) is ranked No. 7 in this week’s National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, its highest ranking since 1986. The Gauchos also are ranked No. 11 by Baseball America.
UCSB is coming off a 2-1 home conference series victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which had swept three games from UH two weeks ago.
The Gauchos are led by utility player Robby Nesovic, who is batting .370 with eight doubles, a conference-leading 34 runs batted in and 23 runs scored. His performance against Cal Poly (.667, five RBIs) earned him Big West Player of the Week honors.
Left fielder Cameron Newell is hitting .355 with eight doubles, two triples, three home runs and 22 RBIs and 30 runs scored, and right fielder Luke Swenson is batting .348 with six doubles, four triples, 18 RBIs and 21 runs scored.
Meanwhile, right-hander Dillon Tate is Baseball America’s No. 2-ranked draft prospect, sporting a 5-3 record with a 1.73 earned run average and 71 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched. Tate missed his start last week due to injury, but is reportedly scheduled to pitch this weekend.
Left-handed starter Justin Jacome is 6-1 with a 2.61 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 72 innings, and righty Shane Bieber is 5-3 with a 2.12 ERA and 63 K’s in 72 innings.
Hawaii also got strong pitching in its first two games against CSUN last Friday and Saturday. No. 1 starter LJ Brewster shut out the Matadors for seven innings, allowing only three hits and striking out five, before giving way to Waiakea graduate Quintin Torres-Costa, who closed out the 1-0 victory.
Saturday starter Tyler Brashears went eight innings, allowing just one run and striking out six. Torres-Costa then earned his second save in as many nights, pitching a perfect ninth inning. Torres-Costa has not allowed a run in his past eight appearances, spanning 14 innings.
Sunday starter Jarrett Arakawa is 2-2 with a 3.26 ERA.
Freshman first baseman Eric Ramirez continues to lead the team with a .308 average, 26 RBIs and a .426 on-base percentage, to also go along with 19 runs scored. Outfielder/designated hitter Alex Sawelson is batting .301 with 14 RBIs and 11 runs scored.
NO. 3 RAINBOW WARRIOR SPIKERS HOST LONG BEACH STATE IN MPSF PLAYOFFS
The No. 3-ranked UH men’s volleyball team will play host to Long Beach State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs.
The match will be televised live statewide on OC Sports channel 16 (SD) and 1016 (HD), and will be broadcast live on radio via ESPN 1420 AM.
The Rainbow Warriors are 23-5 overall and finished the MPSF regular season in second place at 18-4 after dropping their last two league matches at Brigham Young. Long Beach State, ranked No. 11, is 15-12 and finished seventh in the MPSF at 11-11. UH swept a pair of matches vs. the 49ers on Feb. 27-28.
Saturday will mark Hawaii’s first home playoff match since 2010, when the Rainbow Warriors defeated Pepperdine to advance to the MPSF semifinals at Stanford.
In other MPSF playoff matches, top-seeded UC Irvine plays host to No. 8 seed UCLA, No. 3 seed Pepperdine plays host to No. 6 UC Santa Barbara and No. 4 seed Southern California plays host to No. 5 BYU.
RAINBOW WAHINE SOFTBALL TEAM HOSTS UCSB
The UH softball team is back at home this weekend for a three-game series against UC Santa Barbara.
The series opener is set for 6 p.m. Friday, followed by a Saturday doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.
The Rainbow Wahine are 26-19 overall, 7-5 in the Big West coming off a 2-1 series victory at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. UCSB is 15-30, 2-10, and has lost eight of its past nine games, including seven straight. The Gauchos were swept at home by UC Davis last weekend.
UH sophomore outfielder/catcher Lindsey Willmon was named Big West Player of the Week after hitting .556 (5 for 9) with a double, two runs scored and one run batted in. She boosted her season average to .283 with eight doubles, one triple, four home runs, 25 RBIs and 19 runs scored.
Redshirt freshman Brittany Hitchcock earned both Rainbow Wahine victories last weekend, retiring 13 straight batters in one stretch during Friday’s 3-2 win and then pitching a four-hitter to win Saturday’s series finale, 4-1.
Sophomore first baseman Heather Morales continues to lead the team with a .341 batting average, tying for the lead with 27 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .446. Sophomore shortstop Sarina Jaramillo is second with a .317 average to go with four doubles and 18 RBIs, and senior catcher/outfielder Kayla Wartner is batting .304 with nine doubles, eight home runs and 29 runs scored.
RAINBOW WAHINE HOST BIG WEST WATER POLO TOURNEY
The No. 6-ranked UH water polo team will play host to the Big West Conference Tournament Friday through Sunday at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex.
The Rainbow Wahine (15-8) are the No. 3 seed and will face No. 11-ranked Long Beach State in Friday’s 7:30 p.m. first-round match. Hawaii edged the 49ers, 4-3, in double-overtime two weeks ago.
The winner of Friday’s match will advance to Saturday’s semifinals against No. 2 seed Cal State Northridge. In Friday’s other first-round match, No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara will face No. 5 seed UC Davis, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s semifinal vs. top seed UC Irvine.
The championship match, along with third place and fifth-place matches, is set for Sunday.
RAINBOW WAHINE GOLFERS TAKE SECOND IN BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
The UH women’s golf team took second place at the Big West Conference Championships this week at Davis, Calif.
That is the Rainbow Wahine’s highest tournament finish since 2010, when they also took second. Sophomore Raquel Ek was the individual runner-up, finishing the three-round tournament at 3-under 213, five strokes behind champion Andrea Wong of UC Davis. Wong and Ek were the only individuals to finish under par.
Junior Nicole Cruz finished in seventh place at 221, and sophomore Izzy Leung tied for 10th place at 224. Freshman Marie Donnici tied for 22nd place at 232 and sophomore Brianna Becker rounded out the scoring by finishing tied for 32nd place at 237.
RAINBOW WAHINE FACE CSUN IN BIG WEST QUARTERFINALS
The No. 4-seeded UH women’s tennis team will face No. 5 seed Cal State Northridge in the first round of the Big West Conference Championships Saturday at Indian Wells, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine (10-9 overall, 5-3 Big West) upset the Matadors in Northridge last Sunday.UH’s No. 1 singles player, sophomore Cindy Nguyen, went 7-0 in the Big West season by winning 12 of her past 13 overall matches.
Hawaii’s No. 1 doubles team of Martina Kostalova and Paulina Petriskova has won three of their past four matches.