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If muscle memory means anything, the University of Hawaii baseball team won’t be intimidated by one of the best pitchers in college baseball when the Rainbows open a three-game Big West series at UC Santa Barbara tonight.
Gauchos junior right hander Jackson Flora can reach 100 mph with his fastball, and is projected as a top-10 draft pick. He is 5-0 with a 1.15 ERA this season.
But four batters still in the UH lineup this year — Ben Zeigler-Namoa, Elijah Ickes, Kamana Nahaku and Draven Nushida — had two hits apiece last season as the ’Bows bombed the Gauchos 15-7 when Flora started against UH and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning at Les Murakami Stadium.
“We feel like we know him,” Hawaii coach Rich Hill said. “He’s gonna pitch in the majors. He can tell you the fastball is coming and it’s still hard to hit 99. And he’s got an extremely wicked slider.
Still, the ’Bows roughed up Flora again two months later at the conference tournament for five runs on seven hits in six innings, including Zeigler-Namoa’s three-run homer in a 6-2 win.
“All the other coaches were elated,” Hill said of knocking the nationally ranked Gauchos out of the tourney on the first day in a play-in game. “They were doing backflips.”
That was at Fullerton, Calif. Two years ago, at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara, Flora got a win in relief when the Gauchos swept the ‘Bows.
“We’ve been successful at the Les and not so much here. They’re just really good at home,” Hill said. “(Andy Checketts) is a great coach, excellent at developing pitchers and they can score quickly at their park — it is built for home runs.”
Nick Husovsky leads UCSB with five homers and Noah Karliner has four.
Isaiah Magdaleno (2-1, 3.26), who saved all three of UH’s wins against UCSB last year, will start tonight. He has successfully converted from closer to Friday night starter. Three of his five outings have been quality starts, including six innings of five-hit ball with nine strikeouts and one walk in Hawaii’s 11-1 win at Long Beach State a week ago.
But the Rainbows (10-9, 1-5 Big West) lost the two weekend games to the Dirtbags, 7-6 and 2-1. The Gauchos (14-4, 4-2) are also on a two-game skid, losing the series at UC Davis after Flora allowed two hits in 7 1/3 innings of UCSB’s 4-0 blanking of the Aggies.
Hawaii’s opponents have batted just .220 this season, but the ‘Bows haven’t been much better at .239. They had three one-run victories in their first five games, but now they have lost their past two games by one run.
“We’re searching for that consistent punch throughout the lineup,” Hill said. “Nobody’s really stood out. But we’ve still got level 10 positive energy. … We’ve got this mindset that every day is opening day.”
Hill has used a different lineup in all 19 games. But his conference starting pitching rotation remains set, with Hekili Robello (3-1, 3.51) slated for Saturday and Liam O’Brien (1-2, 2.86) for Sunday. UCSB is expected to counter with Nathan Aceves (2-0, 3.70) and Kellan Montgomery (3-1, 4.23). All six scheduled starters are right-handers.
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Gauchos junior right hander Jackson Flora can reach 100 mph with his fastball, and is projected as a top-10 draft pick. He is 5-0 with a 1.15 ERA this season.
But four batters still in the UH lineup this year — Ben Zeigler-Namoa, Elijah Ickes, Kamana Nahaku and Draven Nushida — had two hits apiece last season as the ’Bows bombed the Gauchos 15-7 when Flora started against UH and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning at Les Murakami Stadium.
“We feel like we know him,” Hawaii coach Rich Hill said. “He’s gonna pitch in the majors. He can tell you the fastball is coming and it’s still hard to hit 99. And he’s got an extremely wicked slider.
Still, the ’Bows roughed up Flora again two months later at the conference tournament for five runs on seven hits in six innings, including Zeigler-Namoa’s three-run homer in a 6-2 win.
“All the other coaches were elated,” Hill said of knocking the nationally ranked Gauchos out of the tourney on the first day in a play-in game. “They were doing backflips.”
That was at Fullerton, Calif. Two years ago, at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara, Flora got a win in relief when the Gauchos swept the ‘Bows.
“We’ve been successful at the Les and not so much here. They’re just really good at home,” Hill said. “(Andy Checketts) is a great coach, excellent at developing pitchers and they can score quickly at their park — it is built for home runs.”
Nick Husovsky leads UCSB with five homers and Noah Karliner has four.
Isaiah Magdaleno (2-1, 3.26), who saved all three of UH’s wins against UCSB last year, will start tonight. He has successfully converted from closer to Friday night starter. Three of his five outings have been quality starts, including six innings of five-hit ball with nine strikeouts and one walk in Hawaii’s 11-1 win at Long Beach State a week ago.
But the Rainbows (10-9, 1-5 Big West) lost the two weekend games to the Dirtbags, 7-6 and 2-1. The Gauchos (14-4, 4-2) are also on a two-game skid, losing the series at UC Davis after Flora allowed two hits in 7 1/3 innings of UCSB’s 4-0 blanking of the Aggies.
Hawaii’s opponents have batted just .220 this season, but the ‘Bows haven’t been much better at .239. They had three one-run victories in their first five games, but now they have lost their past two games by one run.
“We’re searching for that consistent punch throughout the lineup,” Hill said. “Nobody’s really stood out. But we’ve still got level 10 positive energy. … We’ve got this mindset that every day is opening day.”
Hill has used a different lineup in all 19 games. But his conference starting pitching rotation remains set, with Hekili Robello (3-1, 3.51) slated for Saturday and Liam O’Brien (1-2, 2.86) for Sunday. UCSB is expected to counter with Nathan Aceves (2-0, 3.70) and Kellan Montgomery (3-1, 4.23). All six scheduled starters are right-handers.
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