Mike Trapasso’s frustration was evident Monday after Hawaii finished winless on a road trip for the second time this season.
A little over an hour after the Rainbows’ 6-3 loss to UC Davis, the Hawaii baseball coach put the blame on himself after UH dropped to 4-11 on the road this season.
RAINBOWS BASEBALL
At Les Murakami Stadium
» Who: Nevada (30-21, 10-5 Western Athletic Conference) at Hawaii (28-22, 8-7) » When: 6:35 p.m. Thursday through Saturday » TV: OC Sports (Ch. 12) » Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
PROBABLE STARTERS » Nevada: RH Bradey Shipley (8-3, 2.08 ERA); RH Tom Jameson (7-2, 2.13); TBA » UH: LH Jarrett Arakawa (6-5, 2.89); LH Scott Squier (3-4, 3.39); TBA |
“All year we’ve fought through adversity and for some reason, they didn’t do it this weekend,” Trapasso said over the phone. “The only reason I can think of is I didn’t do a good enough job to get them ready.”
Just a week ago, the Rainbows seemed poised to earn at least a share of a second consecutive regular-season Western Athletic Conference championship following an impressive sweep of New Mexico State.
UH held a one-game lead over both the Aggies and Nevada as it traveled to Sacramento, Calif., to play the Hornets at a place UH has not fared well.
The Rainbows were 1-7 at John Smith Field before Friday, but had a lot going for them.
For one, finals week had to come to an end. When Hawaii left the islands Thursday, all the suitcase space usually reserved for textbooks and notepads was empty.
This is the time of year when college baseball players can focus on one thing — the game itself.
Yet somehow, the Rainbows came out flat. Seven days ago, UH led the WAC with six games to play. Now, an outright championship is out of their grasp and only a sweep will earn them a first-round bye in the WAC tournament next week.
“Outside of faith and family, there shouldn’t be anything more important than the game now,” Trapasso said. “You’ve got a chance to make something special happen.
“You’ve got 18 new kids playing when everyone thought all these good players from last year left,” he continued. “And we didn’t play like we were competing for a conference championship.”
If there was even a slight chance at a possible at-large selection to the NCAA tournament, it’s most certainly gone now.
Now the Rainbows (28-22, 8-7) have to somehow find a way to get back to playing the style of baseball in which they won eight of their first 12 conference games.
“Are you going to deal with the adversity and grab it by the horns or be fragile and weak of heart and let the adversity beat you?” Trapasso said. “I felt like we gave into the adversity (last) weekend and that’s something this young group hasn’t done.
“We would love to be WAC champions again, but the ultimate goal is to play well next week in Mesa (Ariz.) because at the end of the day, all it comes down to is the tournament.”
UH, which returned home on Tuesday, doesn’t have time to worry about the past, with the Wolf Pack series beginning Thursday night.
The Rainbows will be without ace Matt Sisto and key reliever David Longville. Sisto is being held out with a groin injury, while Longville has been suspended for — according to the umpire — intentionally hitting Sacramento State’s Rhys Hoskins.
Yet despite it all, UH is in a position very few teams are at this point in the season. The Rainbows are down to their final series of the year with a chance at another WAC title.
“We should get fired up about it,” Trapasso said. “We pitched like we had no confidence and to me, that’s ridiculous because in game 50, a couple of bad outings shouldn’t burst your bubble.
“So we’re without Sisto and Longville — we should still go out there and pitch better than what we did last weekend. We’ve got work to do that’s more mental than we do physically.”
UH can finish as high as the No. 2 seed or as low as the fifth seed in the WAC tournament, depending on the outcome of this week’s games.