Thursday, April 7, 2022 | By Josh Pachecho

“The second season starts today with training.”

Those were the Wednesday words of Rich Hill, the first-year skipper of the University of Hawaii baseball team, following his team’s 2-2 California trip last weekend, which included a 13-inning Big West Conference win at nationally-ranked UC Santa Barbara and a non-conference win at USC.

That statement came as he was asked about the progress his team has made in a season that has the Rainbow Warriors starting 10-16 overall and 3-6 in the conference. He targeted some of the “narratives” that come with a new coaching staff and a new philosophy and said that all of that doesn’t matter right now, focusing more on his team “running to the fight” and believing that it can move on up in the Big West.

If the last weekend is any indication, it appears the trend is definitely moving upward with this team. Offensively, the ‘Bows have amassed over 10 hits in each of its last three games. In the ninth inning comeback against the Gauchos on Sunday, Hawaii found its success against UCSB’s closer, Ryan Harvey, touching him up for three runs.

The offensive outburst, featuring consistent hitting from DallasJ Duarte, Kyson Donahue, and Aaron Ujimori, has taken some of the pressure off of a pitching staff that has still been hit-and-miss, especially from its starting pitchers. The Hawaii bullpen has worked overtime this season, which has led to a few bumps in the road, but has also produced some timely positive outings. Cameron Hagan’s 4 2/3 innings in relief on Sunday and Andy Archer’s two-inning save on Monday are just recent examples of that.

On paper, this weekend’s series with 4-22 UC Riverside should help to push Hawaii back into the middle of the crowded pack in the conference standings. There is no shortage of confidence that this team has in itself, and a string of wins could lead to an enticing second-half run.

# # #