The next time Matt Cooper toes the Les Murakami Stadium rubber, the lights will be on, the seats will be full, and the 2014 baseball season will be underway.
In his final tune-up before starting Friday night’s season opener against No. 7 Oregon, Cooper delivered six solid innings in an 8-3 win over former Rainbows in the annual alumni game Saturday afternoon.
A modest crowd of 472 got its first look at the Rainbow Warriors and their ace for 2014.
Cooper, a senior from Marysville, Wash., earned the opening night start with a solid fall campaign after leading UH with a 3.14 ERA and two complete games in 12 starts as a junior.
He allowed one run on three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts, including two against Jon Hee, who began last year at Triple-A Pawtucket with the Red Sox before retiring.
"I’ve been ready to go ever since Day 1 of the fall," said Cooper, who threw 41⁄3 shutout innings of relief in his UH debut last year against the Ducks. "Sometimes I lost focus (today) and that’s on me because you’ve got to go out there with the same mentality every time."
Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso started a lineup with four new players from last season and said it’ll look similar when the team takes the field for real next week.
Freshman Marcus Doi hit leadoff and went 2-for-5 with a three-run triple and two runs scored. Marc Flores, starting in left field, hit a solo home run in the second inning and Kaeo Aliviado and Kalei Hanawahine delivered RBI singles in the win.
"You don’t get a lot out of (alumni games) when you try to evaluate your club because it’s just a different intensity level, but it’s a lot of fun," Trapasso said. "Our guys handled it well and they did well."
The alumni scored their first run in two years when Jason Ross, who played at UH from 1994 to ’96, hit a leadoff double in the fifth and scored on an RBI groundout.
Ross, the father of U.S. gymnast Kyla Ross, who won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics, added a solo home run in the ninth inning, clearing the fence in left-center.
Ross advanced as high as Triple-A in his six seasons of minor league baseball.
"Man, what a stud," Trapasso said. "I am so impressed with that guy. He was so good."
Flores got things going in the second inning after both teams went three-up and three-down in the first.
He sent a 2-1 fastball from KHON weekend sports anchor Sam Spangler deep over the wall in right for the first run of the game.
Chew’s season may be done
Junior Lawrence Chew’s 2014 season is in doubt after he felt soreness in his elbow last week.
Chew will be re-evaluated again in the next couple of days, but the fear is he may need Tommy John surgery.
He’d be the third UH pitcher in the past 12 months to have to undergo the surgery, if needed.
In his first two seasons at UH, Chew is 4-5 with a 3.59 ERA in 44 appearances, striking out 42 in 772⁄3 innings.
UH to play twice on ESPNU
The final two games of Hawaii’s three-game series at Cal State Fullerton in April will be televised live on ESPNU, the network announced Thursday.
It will be UH’s first nationally televised appearance since 2006.
The Titans are ranked No. 1 in nearly every major preseason poll and took two of three against the Rainbow Warriors at Les Murakami Stadium last season.
