LIHU‘E — The ‘Bows will have to keep their hot streak going if they plan on continuing their postseason run, which will continue today. Hawai‘i (33-26) kicks off its regional round robin against San Diego (36-20) at 11 a.m. HT
LIHU‘E — The ‘Bows will have to keep their hot streak going if they plan on continuing their postseason run, which will continue today.
Hawai‘i (33-26) kicks off its regional round robin against San Diego (36-20) at 11 a.m. HT (2 p.m. PT) in the Tempe regional on the campus of Arizona State University. UH is the No. 3 seed in the four-team pod, which also includes the country’s No. 1 team in Arizona State (47-8). San Diego is seeded second and Milwaukee (33-24) is No. 4.
The double-elimination format will see one team advance into the Super Regional best-of-three series for the right to head to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
The ‘Bows got their automatic bid into the Regionals by winning the Western Athletic Conference tournament via a 9-6 victory over Fresno State, Sunday.
The Rainbows faced the toreros once during the regular season, winning 8-6 in a game that featured a grand slam by Christian Johnson. San Diego is currently ranked No. 19 in the the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 Poll.
UH has gotten hot at the right time, winners of 12 of its past 17 games.
Jeffrey Van Doornum is one of the leaders of the ‘Bows’ balanced offensive attack, batting .342 with a team-high 12 home runs and 36 RBIs so far this season.
Kolten Wong leads the squad with a .365 batting average, adding 15 doubles, seven homers and 40 RBIs to go with a .554 slugging percentage. Wong was named Most Outstanding Player of the WAC tournament after batting .500 with three homers, eight RBIs and 10 runs scored.
Collin Bennett’s 19 doubles and 49 RBIs are both team highs to go with his .335 average. Bennett broke two records in the WAC tournament, getting 13 hits and seven doubles. He hit .565 with six RBIs and eight runs in the five games, earning all-tournament honors.
Starting pitcher Josh Slaats leads the Hawai‘i staff having put together a 5-3 record and 3.22 ERA. Sam Spangler and Matt Sisto have also notched five wins apiece as starters.
Lenny Linsky is the go-to arm out of the bullpen, making 27 relief appearances this season and compiling 12 saves and a 3-0 record with a miniscule 1.59 ERA.
Arizona State will be facing Milwaukee at 4 p.m. HT (7 p.m. PT). The Sun Devils earned their top ranking with a 20-7 record en route to a Pac-10 championship.
ASU is batting a whopping .340 as a team, having smacked 56 home runs and swiping 123 stolen bases in its 55 games played.
Riccio Torrez has put together a phenomenal season, hitting .391 with nine homers, 23 doubles, 50 RBIs, 58 runs and 16 stolen bases.
The Milwaukee Panthers enter the Regionals as Horizon League champions after a 17-8 record and a 6-3 win over Wright State in the title game.
Milwaukee has played the ‘Bows only four times in its history, with UH sweeping all four games in Honolulu during a 2007 series.
ESPN 1420 AM radio will be broadcasting the games live with Don Robbs calling the action.
