SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. – Coming off of three straight wins in the midst of a seven-game road trip, Hawai'i will head down the California coast for a crucial three-game series at UC Santa Barbara starting Friday.
The two teams currently sit fifth and sixth in the Big West standings with just a game separating them. The Rainbow Warriors and Gauchos have won 24 games apiece in the all-time series between the schools, with UH sweeping UCSB on the final weekend of the season last year in Honolulu.
| HAWAI'I (19-11, 4-5 Big West) at UC SANTA BARBARA (18-10, 5-4 Big West) |
| Dates & Times |
Friday, Apr. 12 - 12:35 p.m. HT
Saturday, Apr. 13 - 12:05 p.m. HT
Sunday, Apr. 14 - 10:05 a.m. HT |
| Location |
Santa Barbara, Calif. -- Caesar Uyesaka Stadium |
| Radio |
ESPN Honolulu |
| Live Stream |
ESPN+ |
| Live Stats |
Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| PDF Notes |
Hawai'i | UC Santa Barbara |
| Social Media |
@HawaiiBaseball  | @Hawaiibsb  |
| Projected Rotations |
Hawai'i
Friday -- LHP Randy Abshier (1-2, 5.72)
Saturday -- TBD
Sunday -- TBD |
UC Santa Barbara
Friday -- TBD
Saturday -- TBD
Sunday -- TBD |
HEAD COACH RICH HILL
At Hawai'i: 76-55, 3rd season
Collegiate Record: 1,155-793-4, 37th season
SERIES VS. UC SANTA BARBARA
Tied, 24-24
Last Meeting: 2023 in Honolulu (UH won series, 3-0)
LEADING OFF
DID YOU KNOW?
Leadoff batter
Jordan Donahue brings a 13-game hitting streak into this weekend's series. The shortstop is hitting .414 (24-for-58) with seven doubles in that stretch and has a two-bagger in the last six games. He's fourth in the Big West with a .404 batting average.
SECOND HALF SURGES
Hawai'i has come on strong down the stretch of each of the first two seasons under head coach
Rich Hill. The 'Bows are 41-22 in April and May under Hill, going 20-10 in 2022 and 17-11 in 2023. UH is also hitting .299 while averaging 6.8 runs per game in games in the final two months of the year while averaging 8.57 strikeouts per nine innings with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 532-228 (2.33).
TOUR OF CALIFORNIA CONTINUES
Hawai'i opened its seven-game California road trip with a series victory at UC Davis and a midweek win at Santa Clara. After dropping the series opener to the Aggies, the 'Bows bounced back with back-to-back extra-inning wins to take the series. UH erased a late deficit to win Saturday's game 4-2 in 10 innings before clinching the series with another 10 inning win on Sunday, this time coming out on top 4-3. The two games marked the first time since 2010 that a Hawai'i team won back-to-back games in extras. The Rainbow Warriors then headed down to the southern Bay Area to pick up a 9-3 nonconference win over Santa Clara Tuesday, banging out 16 hits while six pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts and just one walk.
WALK IT OUT
The Rainbow Warriors have shown some high-level plate discipline over the first half of the season, drawing 208 walks to rank eighth nationally and lead the Big West by a wide margin. Hawai'i has worked an average of 6.9 walks per game while also getting hit by a pitch 46 times for a total of 254 free passes.
Ben Zeigler-Namoa leads the conference lead with 28 walks with
Matthew Miura in third with 26 and
Austin Machado and
Elijah Ickes tied for fourth with 25.
UH has also walked 19 more times than it has struck out this year, making the 'Bows one of only two teams in the country (East Tennessee State) with more bases on balls than strikeouts.
TROPICAL SWARM
The Hawai'i pitching staff has shown off its depth so far in 2024, using a deep pool of arms to rank among the nation's leaders in a number of categories. The Rainbow Warriors currently sit in the top 25 nationally in walks per nine innings (7th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (13th) and WHIP (25th). UH also ranks in the top three of the Big West in all of those categories. The 'Bows have also shown that they can turn to a number of different arms to get outs, as 10 pitchers have thrown at least 10.0 innings.
