‘Bows down another pitcher

Fresh off a five-game road trip in Las Vegas, Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso summed up the season this way.

"We’re trying to play blackjack with no face cards or aces," he said. "We’re trying to put together a six, a four, a seven and a three and that’s never easy."

The Rainbows were dealt yet another blow as freshman Quintin Torres-Costa suffered a small ligament tear in his left elbow in batting practice before last Friday’s game against Bradley.

An MRI taken Monday night revealed the injury, which might not require surgery.

Torres-Costa will be reevaluated next week after the swelling goes down, to determine the next course of action.

"Best-case scenario is he’s out for several weeks," Trapasso said. "The frustrating thing is he does it swinging a bat."

Torres-Costa, who could redshirt if he doesn’t play again this season, is the third UH lefty to go down with an injury. It comes as Hawaii (1-12) prepares for the first of two consecutive five-game series, starting with Gonzaga (6-4-1) tonight at Les Murakami Stadium.

Trapasso will switch up his pitching rotation and go with senior Connor Little (0-2, 4.35 ERA) tonight. Corey MacDonald (1-1, 3.74) will get the ball on Saturday with staff ace Scott Squier (0-2, 2.60) pitching on Sunday in Game 3.

"(Connor) has shown the ability to be efficient," Trapasso said. "We’ve got to have the first guy give us seven or eight innings."

Little has pitched into the seventh inning in all three starts this year. He went a season-high 7 1/3 innings and allowed only one earned run in his last home start two weeks ago against Rice.

"Coming out on Friday and trying to get this ‘W’ is my goal as well as everybody else on this team," Little said. "This is what every pitcher on our staff tries to do — we try to be the best we can be for our team."

With its pitching staff severely depleted, UH needs guys to step into higher-profile roles.

Sophomore Bryan Burgher, a transfer from Bellevue (Wash.) Community College, gave the Rainbows an encouraging outing on the road.

Against UNLV, which scored 26 runs against Hawaii in two games, Burgher worked three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.

"All of us realize that people have to step up and fill those spots," Burgher said. "Building off that first outing, I’ve taken some stuff away from it and just worked my butt off to get better."

Hawaii welcomes a Gonzaga team that swept the Rainbows last year in Spokane, Wash.

Gonzaga went 2-0-1 last weekend, playing No. 25 Arizona State to a tie and shutting out No. 2 Arkansas.

Junior Marco Gonzales, the reigning West Coast Conference pitcher of the week, tossed an eight-hit shutout against the Razorbacks.

He threw eight shutout innings last year against Hawaii and is another likely first-round pick the Rainbows will face this season.

"Of all the guys we faced last year, he might have been the best one," Trapasso said. "He’s a legit first-round pick and the only question is whether he’ll be drafted as a pitcher or a hitter."

In 10 starts, Gonzales is hitting .343.

Hawaii doesn’t have a regular hitting over .280.

"What we have to do is from this point on, we have to be near flawless in our execution," Trapasso said. "We cannot leave a single run on the bases because we have no margin for error now. That’s what our whole focal point is from this point."