Back on the road, the Hawaii baseball team is hopeful of getting back into sync for the final series of the season.
The Rainbow Warriors were scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening, stay overnight there, then make today’s 3-hour drive to San Luis Obispo, Calif. This afternoon, the ’Bows are set to practice at Baggett Stadium ahead of Friday’s series opener against Cal Poly.
The ’Bows are coming off a roller-coaster ride in which they won seven of eight, had a bye weekend, then lost seven of eight.
“Our thoughts are we want to play well,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said. “We’re not happy the way we’ve played the last couple weeks, and we want to play well.”
Against UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton preceding the bye, the ’Bows hit .354 and averaged 7.75 runs. Against Cal State Northridge and UC San Diego, the ’Bows batted .216 and averaged 2.4 runs.
In two of the losses against UCSD, the ’Bows squandered two strong pitching performances — seven scoreless innings by Cade Halemanu, six by Logan Pouelsen.
“We need to play better because we’re better than what we’ve been the last couple weeks,” Trapasso said.
Injuries also have impacted the ’Bows during a Big West season in which each series increased from three games to four games (with nine-inning doubleheaders on Saturdays). Catcher Dallas Duarte’s season-ending shoulder injury led to Tyler Murray’s extended use. Against CSUN, Murray caught both games of a doubleheader. Third baseman Dustin Demeter, who missed 13 games because of a foot injury, is now exclusively the designated hitter. Demeter’s understudy, Matt Campos, missed three series because of a hand injury — a DNP that was compounded when first baseman Alex Baeza missed the CSUN games because of a hamstring issue. Campos also is Baeza’s backup at first.
Baeza, who returned against UCSD, stabilizes the defense with fielding, range and knowledge. “That’s a very comforting feeling,” shortstop Kole Kaler said of Baeza’s presence at first. “He’s 6-foot-4, and he can move laterally. It’s so easy to throw the ball to a guy like that. You feel you can put the ball anywhere, and he’s going to make a play for you.”
Campos’ return provides depth. He has started games at all the infield positions and, in an emergency, is available as a catcher.
“We saw what happened without Campos and Baeza from a defensive standpoint” said Trapasso, referencing the ’Bows’ 11 errors against CSUN. “We struggled. We really didn’t have the same struggles defensively (five errors) this past weekend (against UCSD).”
Trapasso also has worked with left-handed Austin Teixeira on commanding his pitches. In two starts since recovering from triceps inflammation, Teixeira has thrown 153 pitches in 61⁄3 innings, an average of 24.3 pitches per frame. Of his first pitches, 36.1% have been strikes or to contact.
“He’s been behind in counts and throwing too many pitches per at bat,” Trapasso said. “We worked on that this week.”
But Trapasso has praised Teixeira’s overall performances. Teixeira is a true freshman who did not pitch in Saint Louis School’s abbreviated 2020 season. But Teixeira was impressive in limited fall training to earn a spot in the starting rotation. Teixeira is scheduled to pitch on Saturday.
