The Big Island baseball ‘Bows have made their mark for Hawaii this season, but a strong contingent of five has been trimmed to a group of four.
Starting catcher Dallas Duarte is expected to miss the upcoming series against UC Santa Barabra and perhaps beyond, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported, with coach Mike Trapasso saying the Kamehameha alum’s absence will be for “awhile.”
Duarte injured his right throwing shoulder last Friday at UC Irvine and sat out the last three games of the series.
Along with throwing out three of eight runners attempting to steal, Duarte is hitting .320.
Spring is here
The worst thing about 2020 in Hawaii football coach Todd Graham’s view: lack of fundamentals.
“It’s pretty impossible to have sound fundamentals when you don’t practice and train,” Graham said Tuesday in a Zoom conference.
The Rainbow Warriors are making up for lost time during spring practice, with team mentality, fundamentals and schematics at the top of Graham’s wish list.
“Our No. 1 thing is to get our team all-in,” Graham said. “Everybody wants to win a championship, but what are you willing to give up?
“We want to develop a spirit in how we compete, and we’ve done that in the first four days.”
UH received a boost earlier this year when playmaker Calvin Turner announced he was returning after mulling making himself eligible for the NFL draft.
In nine games last season, the New Mexico Bowl offensive MVP scored 11 touchdowns and notched 1,201 all-purpose yards.
Graham wants to get the senior the ball any way he can.
“One of the things I’m encouraged about is Calvin is really making great progress in fielding punts, so I’m looking forward to him returning punts and kickoffs. My goal is to get him the ball 30-35 times a game.”
UH a still No. 1
Hawaii remained the consensus pick as the team to catch in college men’s volleyball.
Entering this week’s series with rival Long Beach State, the undefeated Rainbow Warriors topped the NVA /AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Poll for a fifth straight week and led the first NCAA Rating Percentage Index of the season when the rankings were released on Monday. UH has also held the top spot in the Off the Block media poll since Feb. 9.
UH improved to 9-0 overall and 4-0 in Big West play with two wins over No. 13 UC San Diego last week in its first home matches of the season. The Warriors again received 15 of 16 first-place votes in the national coaches poll, with the remaining vote going to No. 2 BYU (14-2).
The Warriors and Cougars also hold the top two spots in the RPI. The rankings diverge after that, with Ohio State (8-8 ), ranked outside the coaches’ Top 15 with just 10 points, placing third in the RPI, followed by Lewis (No. 5 in the poll ) and Penn State (No. 8 ).
Hawaii next faces No. 7 Long Beach State (13 RPI) in a two-match series Friday and Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Beach (3-1) are just two weeks into their season and have won three straight after defeating No. 14 UC Irvine in four sets last Friday and rallying from two sets down to win in five in the rematch on Saturday.
LBSU swept the Big West’s weekly awards on Monday. Beach junior outside hitter Spencer Olivier (4.11 kills per set, .419 hitting percentage) was the Player of the Week, senior middle blocker Simon Andersen (14 blocks) was the Defensive Player of the Week and Clarke Godbold (2.56 kps, .295) was Freshman of the Week.