The writing on the wall is a foot note.
Placed against the Hawaii dugout’s wall at Les Murakami Stadium is this teal-printed sign: “We no move feet Braddah.”
“That’s our mantra,” UH baseball coach Rich Hill said of the instruction for batters to stay still when facing an inside pitch.
The willingness to be struck by pitches, as well as draw walks, has helped the Rainbow Warriors rank 29th nationally with a .437 on-base percentage.
“It’s like our thing, just getting on base whatever way you can,” shortstop Jordan Donahue said. “It’s not being selfish, and getting the next guy up to bat.”
Entering this weekend’s four-game series against Rice, the 7-5 Bows have been hit 25 times by pitches this season. They absorbed eight hit by pitches in four games against Ole Miss three weeks ago. Since then, Ole Miss has plunked eight opponents in 10 games. Holy Cross hit seven UH batters in four games, and 12 in six other games.
The theory in not backing away from inside pitches is it forces opposing pitchers to aim toward the strike zone — a hitter’s contact area.
“They’re fine,” Hill said of his heavily padded batters. “They realize it doesn’t hurt that bad.”
EvoShield and Wilson are sponsors that provide elbow and leg padding.
“We’ve got that Scotty Scott leg guard where it covers both sides,” Hill said of the former UH outfielder who was hit 35 times during his four-year collegiate career. “There’s really no excuse to jump out of the way of a ball. When you have that mentality, your lower half is in position to hit so much better. You stay on pitches. Your head’s not moving. It all goes together.”
This season, catcher DallasJ Duarte has been hit five times to increase his UH-record total to 44 in six seasons. In 159 games, Duarte also has drawn 59 walks, put down 25 sacrifices and hit four sacrifice flies.
All but three UH position players with a plate appearance have been plunked this season. But Ben Zeigler-Namoa has drawn 14 walks or one every 3.8 plate appearances. Through Thursday, the ’Bows have drawn 93 walks, ranking ninth nationally among 300 Division I baseball programs.
“It starts with the commitment,” Hill said of the discipline needed to draw walks. “It starts with the buy-in.”
Hill credited assistant coach Dave Nakama with teaching batters about hot-zone contacts, waiting for the right pitch, and not swinging at pitches out of the zone. “We do a lot during the week with our drill work,” Hill said.
Tonight’s series opener at Les Murakami Stadium reunites former Western Athletic Conference members.
Rice, which won the 2003 College World Series, was once a dominant program.
“That’s a (former) national champion that’s in a rebuilding mode last couple years,” Hill said. “This year, they really took a jump, especially with their pitching. I think they can really pitch. They’re extremely well coached. That’s a great brand. The people of Hawaii, the media, you guys have all seen that thing in its height when this place was full. It was a great rivalry. We want to bring that back.”
NCAA BASEBALL
At Les Murakami Stadium
RICE (4-8) VS. HAWAII (7-5)
>> When: 6:35 p.m. today, Saturday; 1:05 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. Monday.
>> TV: None
>> Radio: 1500-AM today, Saturday; 1420-AM Sunday, Monday
