For the longest baseball trip of the season — eight games in 13 days — Hawaii is planning some road adjustments.
The Rainbow Warriors will use several pitchers for Wednesday’s nonconference game against San Diego, then juggle the rotation for the Big West series against Cal State Northridge this weekend.
Aaron Davenport was UH’s starting pitcher in the opener of the past four three-game series. But UH coach Mike Trapasso said Cade Smith will start on Friday and Logan Pouelsen on Saturday. Davenport is a strong consideration for Sunday’s start if he can correct a glitch in his pitching motion.
“There are a couple mechanical adjustments he needs to make,” Trapasso said of Davenport’s choreography of leg, hip and shoulder movements. “On this trip, we’re going to tweak a little bit of the things he needs to work on. Depending on how that goes, he’s the lead candidate to start on Sunday. But I want to make sure he’s doing a little bit better with the fastball command.”
In his first seven appearances, including six starts, Davenport had a 3.41 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Davenport has faced a total of 23 batters in his past two starts, in which he had a 16.36 ERA and 3.33 WHIP.
“We need to get him more linear to help with his fastball command,” Trapasso said. “It’s not an ideal situation to (fix) it on the road like this, but they’re small adjustments. These are things we’ve been working on. We’ll make it a priority,”
Trapasso also noted Jeremy Wu-Yelland’s move to the bullpen is now written in indelible ink. “JY is not a starter,” Trapasso said. “We’ve known that all along. We put him in a role he wasn’t suited for. And we’ve seen him come out of the bullpen three times in a row, and he’s been lights out.”
In seven starts, Wu-Yelland has a 5.35 ERA and 1.52 WHIP while striking out 7.6 per nine innings. But in the past four appearances, all in relief, he has not allowed an earned run in 7 2/3 innings with a 1.04 WHIP while averaging 10.6 whiffs per nine innings. In last Thursday’s game against Cal State Fullerton, Wu-Yelland’s fastball clocked at 96 mph.
“That’s going to get him drafted,” Trapasso said of the left-handed sophomore. “That’s first-day draft stuff next year. We’re going to keep him in that role.”
As a starter, Wu-Yelland appeared to fret about making too-fine pitches. “He’s now pitching with confidence,” Trapasso said. “He’s not over-thinking. He’s letting it go with every pitch. He’s letting it rip, and he’s not worrying about going six or seven innings. … Because of the makeup of the staff early on, I was putting him in a (starting) role he wasn’t best suited for. So now we’re going to use him in the role he’s best suited for.”
For Wednesday’s game against San Diego, Trapasso said Dallas Duarte, who has played second base in league play, will be behind the plate if catcher Tyler Murray is still ailing. Murray appeared to aggravate his hamstring while running the basepaths on Sunday. If Duarte catches, Jack Kennelly would play second.
NCAA BASEBALL
>> Who: Hawaii (16-20) at San Diego (25-15)
>> When: 3 p.m. Wednesday
>> Where: Fowler Park
>> TV: None
>> Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
>> Streaming: TheW.TV
