Alabama freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, a 2017 Saint Louis alumnus, sat out of Saturday’s spring scrimmage with a hand injury.
Alabama coach Nick Saban told reporters after practice that Tagovailoa suffered a “setback” to his injured hand on Friday, three weeks after hurting a finger on his throwing hand on the first day of spring practice.
“Doctors are trying to evaluate the best course of action and what we do with him the remainder of spring,” Saban said.
Tagovailoa’s status for Saturday’s spring game is uncertain. “We’re going to try to protect this and make sure that this thing is not going to be an issue for him in the fall,” Saban said.
Tagovailoa is battling junior Jalen Hurts for the starting quarterback job. In Alabama’s win over Georgia in the national championship game in January, Tagovailoa replaced Hurts to start the second half and threw three touchdown passes to lead the Crimson Tide to a win in overtime.
BASEBALL
6 from Hawaii help turn around a program
After winning just 10 games without a single player from Hawaii on its roster last season, William Jessup decided to recruit the islands hard.
The NAIA baseball program in California added six players with Hawaii ties to its roster this season and they’ve all made a big difference.
On Saturday, the Warriors completed a series sweep of Arizona Christian to clinch the Golden State Athletic Conference regular-season championship with their 34th win overall.
Reliever Tyler Fujimoto, a 2015 Moanalua alumnus who played at Pierce College last season, struck out all four batters he faced to earn the win and improve to 8-1 for the season in a 9-8 victory over the Firestorm in the first game of a doubleheader.
Catcher Cal Koga, a 2015 Kauai High alumnus who played his first two seasons at San Jose State, drove in a run in each game of the doubleheader and infielder Kawai Takemura, a freshman from Kamehameha, scored twice.
Williams Jessup is 26-7 in conference play and ranked No. 8 in the NAIA.
Koga, who has started 37 games, is fourth on the team, hitting .350 with seven doubles, eight homers and 37 RBIs. Takemura has started 34 games in his first season and is hitting .325 with six doubles, three homers and 27 runs scored.
He’s also second on the team with eight stolen bases.
Backup catcher Noah Shackles, a 5-foot-10 junior from Mid-Pacific who transferred from Alvin Community College, is hitting .293 in 43 games with 37 starts. Shackles is second on the team with 12 doubles and has scored 23 runs.
Ashkhon Kuhaulua, a 28-year-old right-hander who played at Menlo College last season and graduated from Kamehameha in 2007, has started eight games and gone the distance twice, posting a 3-2 record with a 3.44 ERA in 521⁄3 innings.
Kuhaulua has struck out 64 and walked 19.
Fujimoto, who has a 2.41 ERA, has struck out 43 in 382⁄3 innings. Reliever Grant Doi (Mid-Pacific, 2015) has made eight appearances.
The Warriors finish the regular season with three games at Menlo College this weekend before the conference tournament.
VOLLEYBALL
Killeen, Choy named to USA roster
Kansas State junior libero Riley Killeen and Utah sophomore setter Bailey Choy were named to the U.S. Women’s Collegiate National Team-Detroit last week.
They are two of 24 volleyball players named to the team who will train and compete in Detroit from June 22 to July 1.
The CNT-Detroit team is considered a second tryout for the U.S. Women’s National Team. The players will train at the University of Michigan before two 12-member teams will be selected to play three exhibition matches against each other.
Killeen, a 2015 ‘Iolani School alumna who was one of two Wildcats to play in every set last season, transferred to Kansas State from Arizona. She registered a team-best 412 digs and 3.55 digs per set and was third on the team with 19 aces.
Choy, who graduated from ‘Iolani a year after Killeen, recorded a team-best 1,241 assists and ranked seventh in the Pac-12 averaging 9.47 assists per set while helping the Utes advance to the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008.
Four liberos and four setters were chosen for the CNT-Detroit squad.
