DeRenne shines in homecoming

In his return DeRenne collected 10 hits in 17 at-bats as well as three RBI and six runs, helping UA sweep the shortened three game series by the scores of 6-0, 17-3 and 6-4 in 16 innings.

"The one thing is that I was so relaxed," DeRenne said. "I was so anxious to play with wooden bats and I knew whatever the coaches wanted me to do I had to execute. I saw the ball well this weekend."

The Wildcats and the Vulcans both used wooden bats in the series.

"We played really well and we showed that we could use wooden bats and still win the ball games," DeRenne said.

Arizona's middle relievers have allowed only two runs in 35 innings of work in the six games the Wildcats have played this season, giving them a 0.51 ERA.

During the series with Hilo the relief pitchers combined for 19.2 innings of shutout pitching, including six innings from junior Dave Abbott and five innings from junior Mike Meyer.

"I am very pleased with the amount of strikes we are throwing, but we are throwing against wooden bats and tradewinds which has a big effect on hitters," associate head coach Bill Kinneberg said. "But, again, it is a nice feeling to know that if the starter gets in trouble we can put somebody in to do the job."

Head coach Jerry Stitt also talked about the middle relief and how it is one of the most important positions on the team.

"Probably the most important guy on the staff is the long relief guy. A guy that you can throw anywhere from 3-6 innings. We have several of these guys," he said.

Frank Sancet Field got a makeover in the past two weeks, adding real seats and taking out the benches in the seating area behind home plate.

The blue seats were put in after a long waiting process and there are more to come. They will also add new seats in the first six rows on each baseline.

"It should be a total of around 1,200 seats and I think it's beautiful," Stitt said.

The new seats down the baselines won't be put in until the Wildcats go on the road to San Diego Feb. 18.

Senior starting pitcher Rob Shabansky, who injured his elbow in the first game of the series against St. Mary's, is still not back and is waiting word on how much longer he will be out.

"Hopefully we will have him back in the next few weeks," Kinneberg said.

Kinneberg also said that the outlook is more positive than negative, but Shabansky's return time is still up in the air.