UC Irvine did more than just damage Hawaii’s record last weekend.
The Anteaters left the Rainbow Warriors without a starting pitcher and potentially their leading hitter heading into another tough weekend against the nation’s No. 4-ranked team.
Junior Jarrett Arakawa will miss a start for the second time this season with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Freshman Marcus Doi tweaked his groin again and might have to miss the series against Cal Poly, which is ranked as high as No. 4 in two major polls entering the three-game series.
The Mustangs begin the weekend tied with UC Irvine for first place in the Big West Conference.
Hawaii, meanwhile, is in danger of losing too much ground to make up in the second half of conference play against an easier schedule.
With an RPI of 51, UH is still in discussion for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament, but it can’t afford to be swept again.
"We’re in an underdog position and our guys will have to relish that position like they did at Texas and at Santa Barbara and at home against UAB," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "We need to get back to playing the way we have most of the year."
RAINBOW WARRIOR BASEBALL
At Les Murakami Stadium
» Who: No. 4 Cal Poly (27-5, 5-1 Big West) vs. Hawaii (14-16, 2-4)
» When: 6:35 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1:05 p.m. Sunday
» TV: OC Sports (Ch. 16) Friday and Saturday only
» Radio: KKEA (1420-AM)
PROBABLE STARTERS
CP: LH Matt Imhof (6-2, 1.96 ERA); RH Slater Lee (2-1, 5.88); RH Casey Bloomquist (7-0, 1.25).
UH: RH Matt Cooper (3-2, 1.60); RH Scott Kuzminsky (3-3, 3.30); LH Scott Squier (2-2, 3.04).
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Arakawa, second on the team with a 2.41 ERA, suffered his first loss of the season against UCI last Sunday after recording only one out.
He exited the game with pain in his left shoulder, the one he had surgery on last year.
He missed a start the third week of the season against Pepperdine but bounced back to give up just two runs or fewer in his past five outings, throwing at least six innings in four straight before last weekend.
"With this injury, sometimes the inflammation gets in there and the only thing that gets rid of it is rest," Trapasso said.
Doi has started only 13 of the team’s 30 games with a nagging groin injury that flared up on Sunday.
He leads the team with a .351 average and has an on-base percentage of .413.
"He couldn’t even swing a bat (on Tuesday), so I’m not so sure we’ll have him available," Trapasso said.
It leaves UH short-handed against Cal Poly, which hasn’t played on the road since March 9 at Seattle.
The Mustangs have not lost consecutive games all season and are hitting .298 while outscoring opponents 204-104.
Cal Poly leads the nation in strikeouts per nine innings and boasts a staff led by junior left-hander Matt Imhof, who is 6-2 with a 1.96 ERA. Imhof is one of 50 players currently on the Golden Spikes Award watch list and the fourth pitcher among the group UH will face this season.
Hawaii will counter with senior Matt Cooper (3-2, 1.60), who gave up three earned runs in a home start last weekend for just the third time in his career.
In 16 career outings at Les Murakami Stadium, Cooper has given up 71 hits in 92 innings with a 1.86 ERA,
"It’s a big thing having him out there to start that first game," Trapasso said. "For him to go out and give us a quality start, it is more than important, it’s a necessity. He’s got to give us seven or eight innings and pitch better than he did last week."
