If the University of Hawaii baseball team’s schedule has played out like a series of dinner courses to date, then the main one is on tap.
In a battle between the top two teams in the Big West standings, the Rainbow Warriors start a four-game series Friday at UC Irvine, and coach Mike Trapasso will hand the ball to ace Aaron Davenport to try and set the tone.
Davenport (1-0, 1.67) hasn’t just delivered scoreless innings this season. His coach said he makes the ’Bows better just by the way attends to his business.
“He’s the hardest worker on our team, period, pitchers or position players,” Trapasso told KHON2-TV. “I don’t think anybody works harder than he does.
“It’s leadership by example. He commands respect because he’ll put in the work. When you see the fruits of your labor pay off from a production standpoint, that makes everybody else work harder.”
The sophomore right-hander has pitched at least six innings in all four of his starts, racking up 37 strikeouts in 27 innings. Davenport credits an offseason training regimen that saw him gain 15 pounds of mass with helping him become a workhourse.
“I feel really good and my arm’s not getting fatigued,” Davenport said. “I feel I can go deep into every game.”
The Anteaters (10-7, 4-0 Big West) swept UC Davis last weekend, outscoring the Aggies 29-7.
UH (11-3, 3-1) had its 10-game winning streak snapped last week when Long Beach State salvages the final game of the series, but the ‘Bows were rewarded by being ranked 30th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 30.
“My thoughts are it’s recognition to our guys from a national publication,” Trapasso told Tribune News Service of the program’s first ranking since 2011. “Any time you’re ranked in the top 30 out of almost 300 schools, that’s great recognition. And hopefully our guys can use that as motivation to continue to go out and work hard.”
Also scheduled to pitch for Hawaii against Irvine are Cade Halemanu (2-0, 2.14) and left-hander Austin Teixeira in Saturday’s doubleheader, and Logan Pouelsen is set to start Sunday.
The ‘Bows play host to UC Santa Barbara next week.
”There’s no question, these first three weekends (of Big West play ), if you look at all the predictions, those are the teams picked to finish in the top three,” Trapasso said. “Right off the bat, we’re jumping into the deep end. … We’re playing a 40-game conference season, and every game has equal weight and value. That’s how we’re approaching it.”