In order to be the best, the University of Hawai‘i baseball team will have to beat the best.
Despite losing its first Big West Conference series of the season at UC Riverside over the weekend, hopes continue to be high for the Rainbow Warriors in 2025.
The Rainbow Warriors started playing Big West games in 2013 and have never won the conference. The 'Bows have crept closer in the standings since Hill took over in 2022, finishing third twice. UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara have been the Big West's standard bearers during the Hill era at UH and that appears to be no different in 2025. Irvine is No. 14 in the national composite rankings, while Santa Barbara is currently 15.
Hawai‘i began its 2025 season at 10-2 overall, winning all three of its nonconference series prior to Big West play. UH enters its upcoming series against No. 15 UC Santa Barbara at 12-4 overall after a midweek win over Chaminade. The 'Bows currently have a national RPI ranking of 6, an unusually high number that head coach Rich Hill says won't paint an accurate picture of the team's résumé until the 15th week of the season.
Although the Big West is introducing a conference tournament for the first time in May, Hawai‘i's NCAA Tournament at-large chances are likely to receive a big boost if it can finish ahead of either Irvine or Santa Barbara in the conference standings.
UH's first crack at the two powers comes this weekend at Les Murakami Stadium, when the Rainbow Warriors host UC Santa Barbara for a three-game series starting on Friday.
"Playing here is definitely different than playing anywhere else in the country, and that's a testament to our fans and this environment," senior outfielder Jared Quandt said. "It's an amazing place to play, so it's good to get back in front of the fans, to get a win (over Chaminade) under our belt going into the weekend, get kind of back into the groove of things."
UC Santa Barbara boasts a pair of premier arms considered to be among the best in college baseball. Friday night starter Tyler Bremner is projected to be the first right-handed pitcher selected in July's MLB Draft, while Saturday starter Jackson Flora has a fastball that has surpassed 100 miles per hour.
"We're definitely excited. It's a great opportunity to have Santa Barbara coming in. Yeah, good arms. Really good arms. We're all excited," Quandt said. "We know what we're capable of, and we've been practicing the way we need to practice and doing the drills we need to do. We're just gonna come in and take it one pitch at a time, and at the end of the day, doesn't matter who's throwing it, it's still just a baseball coming at home plate."
Despite their pro-level stuff, Bremner and Flora have both had starts where each struggled. In a three-inning outing against Seattle on Feb. 21, Bremner gave up five hits and three runs. In a March 1 start against Fresno State, Flora was tagged for seven runs and eight hits in five innings.
To counter, Hawai‘i will start Itsuki Takemoto on Friday and Liam O'Brien on Saturday. Regular Friday starter Sebastian Gonzalez will have his regular start pushed back due to a hip flexor injury, but Hill says he could be an option for Sunday.
"We're just focused on the task at hand. We talk about that a lot in this program," Hill said. "The past is but a prelude to where you are right now. ... We don't look at it in terms of being in the future and winning the Big West. You just work backwards from that. What do we need to do to win this game on Friday? And then you work back from that.
"It's all process oriented, mastering the skills that it takes to win a game and executing at the right time. So, it's a very simple process."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
