Even if a monsoon or a blizzard hit Manoa on Saturday there would have been no choice. Considering the way the University of Hawaii baseball team gave the game away Friday, there was no way it could stand as the season finale — as emblematic of the season as it is.
In the end, the Rainbow Warriors finally got a break and the weather cleared up enough for ace Matt Cooper to get his final start. He was close to his best and helped UH craft a solid 5-1 victory to finish up a disappointing 22-31 season on a high note.
While this win over the UC Riverside Highlanders was indicative of what UH was at its best this season, it didn’t happen nearly enough. The previous evening’s frittering away of an early lead to lose 8-6 was more the norm, especially in the Big West, where UH maintained residence in the cellar at 6-18.
Although Cooper was the beneficiary of a small-ball era with more than half his games at pitcher-friendly Les Murakami Stadium, he was also often victim to anemic hitting and shaky defense in his two years at UH.
With better support he might have gone down in program lore on the short list of all-time great starting pitchers.
Still, it’s hard to argue with a season ERA of 1.60. Any time your name is in the same sentence with "since Derek Tatsuno" you are legit.
Yes, Cooper deserved better than a 6-5 record, and Scott Kuzminsky certainly deserved more wins than zero in the Big West.
UH batted .249 as a team. We can make excuses for that, but it’s still significantly lower than the .262 of the opponents, who also got on base at a better clip, outslugged the Rainbow Warriors and executed better offensively in just about every measureable.
Granted, offense wasn’t this team’s only problem; that’s just what gets noticed most. Relief pitching and defense cost Hawaii more losses than the lack of scoring.
Take that Friday night game … far away, please. UH made three errors and allowed three unearned runs. Ragged relief and defense poured gas on the fire once the Highlanders found their offensive mojo.
UH’s .965 fielding percentage was matched almost exactly by its opponents. But Hawaii was worse in key situations, yielding 50 unearned runs to 37 for its foes. That’s nearly one per game and particularly troubling for a team that doesn’t score a lot of runs. Not even a team with great hitting and a solid bullpen could afford that.
If you count only earned runs, guess what? The total is Hawaii 189, Opponents 187. It’s not unfair to conclude the Rainbow Warriors gave away a winning season.
But here’s a stat that helped save coach Mike Trapasso’s job: 10-for-9.
Ten bachelor’s degrees earned, with nine players completing their eligibility. The 10th is by Jarrett Arakawa, who did it in four years and has another to pitch because of his injury redshirt in 2013.
The 2014 Rainbow Warriors baseball team wasn’t very good often enough on the field. But it somehow managed better than perfection at what is supposed to be the real reason the players are in college.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/quickreads Opens in a new tab.
