On Saturday, the University of Hawaii baseball team concluded its 2024 regular season with a 5-2 win over Cal State Fullerton on senior night.
Saturday’s win lifted the Rainbow Warriors to 37-16 overall and 20-10 in Big West Conference play, giving the ‘Bows their first regular season at least 20 wins above .500 since 2006. Additionally, UH reached 20 Big West wins for the first time as a program.
All the latest sports news from Hawaii’s sports station
Hawaii is one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 16 of its last 17 and 18 of its last 20. The ‘Bows also won 11 straight home games. During the Cal State Fullerton series, the ‘Bows also leapfrogged Cal Poly for third place in the Big West Conference standings.
Despite the accolades and frequent winning down the stretch, a return to the postseason seems unlikely, as the Rainbow Warriors are currently 73 in RPI. Still, the team will watch Monday’s NCAA Tournament selection show to see which 64 teams will compete for a national championship.
“We absolutely deserve a bid,” Hawaii head coach Rich Hill said. “First of all, no team wants us in their regional as a 4 seed. No 1 seed wants to see us and the type of pitching we have, the type of mojo we have right now. The committee favors teams that finish strong. Winning 16 of your last 17 games, 18 out of 20, maybe the second longest home winning streak that there is. We made an attempt to schedule as tough as we could, we’re hampered by geography here. Third best ERA in the country, there’s all kinds of things that add up. It’s just that RPI, which is an antiquated formula. It just depends on how much they go with it. I really don’t know. … We’ll be watching on Monday morning.”
In its last 20 games, the Hawaii outscored opponents 141-59. Its pitching staff also finished with an ERA of 3.78, good for second in the country behind Arkansas.
“It was a really good time this season,” freshman third baseman Elijah Ickes said. “Winning is the best thing possible and I think we showed what we could do and I think we should have a chance to keep playing some more baseball.”
After Saturday’s game, the Rainbow Warriors celebrated its 14 seniors. Many of them will finish playing baseball once their college days are over, holding out hope that Saturday wasn’t the end.
“We deserve every bit of it. We deserve every inch of that,” senior catcher DallasJ Duarte said of an at-large bid. “We’ve worked so hard, we’ve come a long way, handled a lot of obstacles. Just give us a chance. They’re scared to give us a chance, that’s the real truth.”