Hawai'i Game Notes | UC Davis NotesHONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Warrior baseball team (13-15, 2-1 Big West) will make their second trip to the mainland this season and the first road trip to meet a Big West Conference foe, in a three-game swing at UC Davis (8-15, 1-2 Big West). The 'Bows are looking to maintain their position in the upper echelon of the conference standings, coming off a series victory over UC Irvine last weekend at home. The Rainbow Warriors and Aggies will face off in the conference series, April 8-10, at UCD's Dobbins Stadium.
The Rainbow Warriors opened up their conference slate with consecutive wins over UC Irvine of 8-4 and 8-5, marking the first time in 10 tries UH had defeated the Anteaters and the first time since 2006 that UH had won the series. The 'Bows provided great run support for a pair of pitchers who went deep into each outing.
The Aggies topped San Francisco at home on Tuesday at home, 15-3, and are hitting .261 as a team, led by junior outfielder Mark Cardinalli, who is hitting a team-high .379, tying for a team-leading 22 hits with 11 RBI and six runs, getting aboard at a .431 clip. Joining him batting over the .300 mark, senior outfielder Cameron Olsen hits .318 with a team-leading five doubles, 12 RBI and nine runs. Ryan Anderson leads the Aggies with 14 RBI and 11 runs, batting .281. Billy Tanner is the big scorer for UCD, recording 17 runs and 12 RBI, batting .265.
Recently leading off the pitching rotation for the Aggies, redshirt freshman left-hander Robert Garcia has started his last two outings after seven relief appearances, holding an 0.77 ERA with a 1-1 record, striking out 41 with 10 walks in 35 innings of action. Locked into the two-spot, junior right-hander Justin Mullins is 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA, striking out 26 with just two walks in 24.2 innings. Closing out the trio, senior right-hander Nat Hamby is 1-1 with a 4.45 ERA, striking out 27 with 11 walks in 28.1 innings. The Aggies have a team ERA of 4.52.
The Aggies dropped their Big West opening series last weekend at UC Riverside, losing the first two games by scores of 5-3 and 8-5, before rallying up for a 13-12 big-hitting finale.
On the UH end of the spectrum, senior shortstop
Jacob Sheldon-Collins shows no signs of slowing, batting a Big West third-highest .394 with 39 hits, chipping in six doubles, 13 RBI and 16 runs for the 'Bows. Rookie catcher
Kekai Rios continues to rise, ranking 10th in the league with a .342 average, putting up 16 RBI and 13 runs on just 26 hits after being forced into action due to a starter injury to
Chayce Ka'aua. Speaking of Ka'aua, he hit .273 against UCI with four RBI and a run against the Anteaters.
Topping the UH RBI charts, first baseman
Eric Ramirez has batted in a BWC sixth-best 20 runs and scored 12 of his own, racking up a team-high seven doubles, tying for sixth in the conference.
On the mound for the 'Bows, the rotation will remain locked up, headed up by right-handed junior
Brendan Hornung (3-5, 2.15 ERA), who ranks fourth in the Big West with 46 strikeouts, versus 12 walks in a team-leading 54.1 innings. Up next, right-handed senior
Kyle Von Ruden (4-1, 2.76 ERA) leads the conference with 58.2 innings under his belt, topping the squad with a 32:5 strikeout to walk-ratio, a 6.4 to 1 rate, walking none in his last four outings. Rounding out the trio, left-hander
Alex Hatch looks to bounce back from a first-inning exit against UCI, as the Anteaters found seemingly all the hidden spaces in the UH defense, breaking up a string of two straight high-quality starts for the senior, holding him to his first start under five innings.
The Rainbow Warirors spent the month of March in the friendly confines of Les Murakami Stadium over an 18-game stretch. Friday's opener will be only UH's sixth contest away from home this year, last taking the road to face San Francisco at neutral Moraga, Calif., winning the series against the Dons, 2-1.
University of Hawai'i Games 29-31What: Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (13-15, 2-1 BWC) vs. UC Davis Aggies (8-15, 1-2 BWC)
When: Friday, April 8, 2:30 p.m. PDT (11:30 a.m. HT)
Saturday, April 9, 1:00 p.m. PDT (10:00 a.m. HT)
Sunday, April 10, 1:00 p.m. PDT (10:00 a.m. HT)
Where: Davis, Calif. (Dobbins Stadium)
Television: None
Live Video Streaming: None
Radio: All games will be broadcast live on the radio on ESPN 1420 AM with Mel Proctor on the call. Neighbor islands can listen live on KNUI on Maui, KHLO in Hilo, KKON in Kona and KTOH on Kaua'i.
Audio Webcast: www.ESPN1420am.com
Live Stats: Live in-game stats will be provided by UC Davis Athletics throughout the series at the links listed below.
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 #HawaiiBSB
