Third baseman Ethan Lopez cut the hair that he had been growing out for 18 months in support of his father, who is battling cancer.
Relief pitcher Colin Ashworth brought a guitar, but only because he is scheduled to sing at his grandmother’s funeral on Saturday morning.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Hawaii baseball team departed on a road trip to Riverside, Calif. Already a close-knit and supportive team, this trip’s focus turns to the three-game series against UC Riverside, beginning on Friday.
The trip “does get your guys to focus on school and baseball, because that’s basically all we do,” head coach Mike Trapasso said.
Today’s plans call for practice, study hall, and exams. Trapasso said he is serving as proctor for several tests.
UH’s medical staff still is monitoring first baseman Alex Baeza’s health. In a freak accident, Baeza was struck on the face when a UC Davis player’s helmet became dislodged and bounced. Baeza received a small facial cut, and after suffering from a headache, was entered into the concussion protocol.
On Wednesday, Baeza said he had not experienced a headache in the previous 24 hours. He said he was able to ride a stationary bicycle for 20 minutes. “I didn’t have any (concussion-like) symptoms,” Baeza said. “I felt great. I’ll leave it up to the doctors. But I feel ready to play.”
Trapasso said coaches and the player are excluded from the decision-making during the concussion protocol. For Baeza’s availability for Friday’s series opener, Trapasso said, “I have no idea. I can say I’m hopeful, but I’m not even cautiously optimistic. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Catcher Tyler Murray has secured a role as an every-day player. In fall training, it was projected Murray and freshman Dallas Duarte would split the catching duties. But Murray suffered an injury to his left (receiving) hand in the preseason, and missed the ’Bows’ first 10 games. Since returning, Murray has caught while Duarte has been used mostly as a second baseman. Last weekend against UC Davis, Murray hit 5-for-7, including 3-for-3 on Sunday, and threw out two baserunners. Trapasso envisions a lineup of Murray at catcher and Duarte at second this entire series.
“I’ve been sticking to the plan,” Murray said of his hitting approach.
Trapasso said: “You’ll find in some instances with (Murray’s) injury, it forced him to stay within himself. He couldn’t over-swing because it hurt. It’s one of those things. In a strange way, that helped his swing just coming back from that injury and not being 100 percent.”
Trapasso said Murray should have no problems starting in each game of the Big West series. “Absolutely,” Trapasso said. “Catching three days in a row is nothing like four days in a row or five days in a row. And the way we have it set up, for the most part, is no mid-week games. So you’ve got four days off after that.”
Trapasso also praised Duarte’s range at second. Duarte was in the middle of three double plays against UC Davis. Trapasso said Duarte still is experiencing the after-effects of a sprained ankle suffered earlier in the season. “As that continues to heal, you’ll see him play even better second base than what we’ve seen so far. I think he’s only playing at about 80 percent.”
BIG WEST BASEBALL
>> Who: Hawaii (13-17, 3-3 BWC) at UC Riverside (8-12, 1-5 BWC)
>> When: 3 p.m. Friday, Saturday, 10 a.m. Sunday
>> Where: Riverside Sports Complex, Riverside, Calif.
>> TV: None
>> Radio: 1420-AM
>> Streaming: BigWest.TV
