Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso would have preferred a second day off between the first two series of the season.
As the Oregon series showed, at least he has a deep and talented pitching staff ready to go the minimum 43 innings required over the next four days.
RAINBOW BASEBALL
At Les Murakami Stadium
» Who: Hawaii (1-3) vs. Hofstra (0-3)
» When: 6:35 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 1:05 p.m Saturday (doubleheader)
» TV: OC Sports Wednesday only
» Radio: KKEA Wednesday and Friday; KHKA Thursday and Saturday.
PROBABLE STARTERS
» HU: RHP Alec Eisenberg (0-0, 36.00 ERA); RHP Brian MacDonald (0-0, 4.50); RHP Chris Bonk (0-1, 5.40); RHP Adam Heidenfelder (0-1, 9.00); RHP Nick Kozlowski (0-1, 10.38).
» UH: LHP Andrew Jones (0-1, 10.80); RHP Tyler Brashears (0-1, 6.75); LHP Quintin Torres-Costa (0-0, 1.50); RHP L.J. Brewster (1-0, 1.69); RHP Kyle Von Ruden (0-0, 0.00).
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The Rainbow Warriors (1-3) are back at it just 48 hours after a frustrating 3-2 loss to No. 16 Oregon with the first of a five-game set against Hofstra on Wednesday night at Les Murakami Stadium.
The teams will play night games for three straight days before a doubleheader on Saturday caps a stretch of nine games in nine days.
After a dismal opening night in which UH had more errors (six) than hits (four) in a 12-0 loss, the ‘Bows played three really good games, sandwiching two one-run losses behind a convincing 10-1 thumping of the Ducks.
UH allowed only seven runs over the final three games and its starting pitchers combined for a 2.42 ERA in 221⁄3 innings despite three of the four starting their first Division I games.
“There’s no question we’re a better staff than we’ve been,” Trapasso said after Monday’s game. “We’re a good team. We going to take away from this weekend that we are a good team.”
Hawaii used 12 different pitchers against the Ducks with seven allowing one run or less, including starters Quintin Torres-Costa and L.J. Brewster.
Torres-Costa struck out a career-high eight while Brewster allowed only five hits over 51⁄3 innings in his first-ever start.
Junior Kyle Von Ruden was the biggest surprise on Monday, giving Trapasso 5 1⁄3 shutout innings on a day his coach was expecting to staff the game.
“We were just hoping to get three or four (innings) out of him but he was mixing his pitches really well,” Trapasso said. “All of a sudden you look up and he’s given you a quality outing.”
Von Ruden allowed only four hits and two walks with four strikeouts and used an effective changeup to keep Oregon off balance.
“I had the nerves in the first inning a little bit but I kept them off balance and know what I got now, especially going against those guys,” Von Ruden said. “Q and L.J. did a great job and I got to watch them go after those guys and tried to do what they did, keeping them off balance with offspeed (pitches) and keeping the ball down.”
Six of the 12 who threw against Oregon were newcomers, including Von Ruden, Cody Culp and Matt Valencia, who combined to throw 12 shutout innings with nine strikeouts and six hits allowed.
UH’s top three hitters were also first-time players. Redshirt freshman Chayce Ka‘aua hit .444 (4-for-9) with three RBIs, third baseman Alex Sawelson was 6-for-15 with a double and four runs scored and first baseman Eric Ramirez hit .385 (5-for-13) with three RBIs.
“Those guys came out and played a great series and can swing it,” four-year senior Kaeo Aliviado said. “They showed they’re fighters. They’re going to battle all of the way and I’m really excited for the future.”
Hawaii and Hofstra will meet for the first time ever.
The Pride began the season losing three games at No. 11 UCLA by a combined score of 43-10.
In order to give his starters their proper days off, Trapasso will start reliever Andrew Jones in Wednesday’s opener before going with his normal rotation on Thursday beginning with junior Tyler Brashears.
The Pride will test Ka‘aua’s arm behind the plate. Hofstra is one of the top base-stealing teams in the country over the past three years, ranking no worse than fourth in all of Division I in steals per game.
