Hawaii baseball team to play in pro stadium
May 6—The University of Hawaii baseball team received an upgrade for this trip to Las Vegas.
The three-game interconference series between UH and UNLV will be played at Las Vegas Ballpark in downtown Summerlin. Ballpark Digest has rated Las Vegas Ballpark as the best Triple-A baseball facility two of the past three years.
"It's exciting that we're playing at that ballpark, " UH coach Rich Hill said. "Beautiful venue. We get UNLV out of that stadium (on-campus Earl E. Wilson Stadium ) where they're so tough to beat (16-11 )."
The 10, 000-seat Las Vegas Ballpark—home to the Las Vegas Aviators—features a 31-foot-high-by-126-foot-wide video board, concessions that include selections from Me Gusta Tacos and Ferraro's Italian Restaurant, and an indoor batting cage. The Tifway 419 Bermuda sod—which also is used at Allegiant Stadium—provides a true bounce in the infield.
"The playing surface is the best of the best, " UNLV coach Stan Stolte said. "Our players are excited."
This will be a rematch. On Feb. 26 in San Diego, the Rebels defeated the'Bows 9-3 in the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament. Since then, Hill said, much has changed for the'Bows. While Cade Halemanu remains at the front of the pitching rotation—he pitches in tonight's series opener—Blaze Koali 'i Pontes has emerged as a co-ace. In his first eight appearances, all in relief, Pontes had a 7.62 ERA and 2.21 WHIP. In the next eight appearances, Pontes has a 1.09 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. In three starts, he has a 0.95 ERA and 0.89 WHIP.
There was consideration of moving Pontes to the opener. But Hill said he kept the Halemanu-Pontes order intact because he wanted to maintain relatively similar spacing for next week's series, which will be played on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
Second baseman Stone Miyao and designated hitter Bronson Rivera have provided an offensive boost to the lineup. In his first 17 games, Miyao hit.125. Since then, he is 25-for-66 (.379 ) to raise his overall average to.262.
"At the beginning, I wasn't as comfortable as I am now, " Miyao said. "Coach Rich (Hill ) and Coach Dave (Nakama, the hitting coach ) stuck it out with me. They gave me all these opportunities that I'm grateful for."
Rivera, a freshman from Holualoa on Hawaii island, has been promoted to the lefty spot in the designated hitter platoon. He drove in the go-ahead run in Saturday's 5-4 victory over Cal State Fullerton. Rivera's junior and senior seasons with Konawaena High were not played because of the pandemic. But he said he kept fresh with workouts with his father, Robin, in the backyard and on his family's coffee farm.
"I had the same routine every week, just working out and going through drills with my dad, " Rivera said.
The 31-16 Rebels are hitting.336 with 64 home runs. First baseman Hank Zeisler is hitting.404 with nine homers and 58 RBIs. Left fielder Austin Kryszczuk has belted 10 home runs. In addition to Zeisler, six regulars are batting higher than.345.
"We've got three or four guys whose numbers are pretty good, " Stolte said. "Hank's done a great job for us. Just a professional-type hitter. He's experienced. He knows what he can and can't do."
Josh Ibarra (5-1, 5, 06 ERA ) will start tonight, followed by Josh Sharman (3-3, 5.49 ) on Saturday, and Noah Mattera (5-0, 6.00 ) in Sunday's finale.
"Ibarra can be really good, but he hasn't been as consistent as we'd like." Stolte said. "But he gives us a chance every Friday."
