Hawaii still fighting for Big West baseball title

And then there were six.

In baseball’s version of “Survivor,” there is a four-game gap between Big West leader Cal State Fullerton (17-7) and sixth-place UC Irvine (13-11) with two weekends remaining in the conference season.

The Big West has no postseason tournament, and only the regular-season champion is assured a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

UC San Diego, which is second at 18-9, is ineligible for the postseason because it is in the third season of a four-year transition from Division II to Division I.

Hawaii, which is fifth at 14-10, has a chance to ascend with three-games series beginning today against fourth-place Cal State Northridge (15-9) and next week against third-place UC Santa Barbara (16-8).

“We’re not out of this thing,” UH coach Rich Hill said of the road series in Northridge. “We’re going to go hard until we’re mathematically eliminated, if we ever are.”

Kyson Donahue, a multi-position player, said: “It’s exciting to finish the season with some meaningful games. We’re looking forward to continuing the momentum from (a sweep of UC Davis) last weekend.”

The ’Bows have found a pitching formula with Harry Gustin, Randy Abshier, Harrison Bodendorf, Alex Giroux, Tyler Dyball and Connor Harrison. Gustin and Abshier are set to start today and Saturday. Bodendorf and Giroux have been used in relief in the first two games of a series and then summoned to start in the finale. But last weekend, Harrison, who did not pitch in the first two games against UC Davis, started on Sunday, with Bodendorf pitching scoreless relief.

The ’Bows will face a challenge against CSUN, which plays in hitter-friendly Matador Field. With no lights, the day games also provide better visibility for the batters.

“We try to keep them centered as much as possible,” CSUN coach Eddie Cornejo said of the Matadors’ plate discipline. “We’ll hit some home runs, but we don’t lead the conference in home runs. Conference opponents hit more home runs than we do. We find our ability in doing a lot of little things.”

Three part-time players a year ago are now offensive contributors. Center fielder Jakob Simons, who endured a collarbone injury last year, is hitting .338 with a team-high 12 home runs. Left fielder Kevin Fitzer, who played 20 games last year, has played in all 43 this season while hitting .338. Shortstop Ali Camarillo missed 23 Big West games because of an injury in 2022. He is hitting .412 in Big West games this season.

Lucas Braun and Thomas Bainton have secured spots in the front of the rotation.

“He’s mature,” Cornejo said of Braun. “He’s shown the ability to get out of jams and make quality pitches when he needs to. That’s what you need out of a Friday starter.”

Cornejo said Bainton is a “strike thrower” with a 2.6-to-1 ratio of strikeouts to walks. “He works fast and has proven to go deep into games,” Cornejo said.

Xavier Martinez, who is 4-1 with a 1.08 ERA, and Joshua Romero, who has 10 saves — including six in conference play — are co-closers.