Warriors at the Next Level: Nakawake and Haus Open NCAA Regionals

2021 Stanford Regional Central | 2021 NCAA Baseball Tournament Bracket

Former El Camino College baseball players Taishi Nakawake and Kenneth Haus will open the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament today.

Nakawake and Big West Conference champions UC Irvine will head to Palo Alto, Calif. to take part in the Stanford Regional hosted by Stanford, who earned the No. 9 National seed. The Anteaters drew the No. 2 seed at the regional and will open against No. 3 Nevada tonight at 6 p.m. PT.

Meanwhile, Haus and the Big East Regular Season and Conference Tournament champions Connecticut Huskies will head to South Bend, Ind. The Huskies drew the No. 2 regional seed at the South Bend Regional hosted by No. 10 National seed Notre Dame and will open with a matchup against No. 3 seeded Michigan at 4 p.m. PT.

NAKAWAKE EARNS MAJOR POSTSEASON AWARD FOR BIG WEST CHAMPS

Nakawake had a stellar year for the Anteaters in 2021 as he was recently named the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He became the fourth player in program history to win the award. He has started all 71 games since joining the program and recorded 149 assists for the second-most in the conference in 2021. He also turned 23 double plays and committed just five errors in 40 conference games. Overall, Nakawake posted a .965 fielding percentage on the year.  

On the year, Nakawake played and started in all 56 games for the Anteaters and recorded 47 hits with nine doubles. He scored 33 runs and had 30 RBI on the year.

Nakawake played two seasons (2018-19) with the Warriors and appeared in 84 career games at ECC. His best year came as a sophomore in 2019 when he earned an All-SCC South Division Second Team selection. He played in all 49 games for the Warriors and batted .298 with 50 hits including 11 doubles, one triple and one home run. He scored 34 runs and drew 15 walks on the year. In the field, Nakawake was outstanding as he helped turn 32 double plays and tallied 172 assists with 15 errors in 266 chances. His .944 fielding percentage as a sophomore was a vast improvement over his .892 percentage as a freshman.

HAUS LOOKING TO FINISH COLLEGE CAREER ON STRONG NOTE

Haus is in the midst of his senior season with the Huskies and appeared in 21 games with one start in 2021. He's posted a 3-3 overall record with a 4.54 ERA and locked down his first career save. He has tossed 33.2 innings and surrendered 28 hits and 14 walks while striking out a career best 41 batters. He has also limited opposing batters to a career best .220 batting average.

For his career with the Huskies so far, Haus has appeared in 42 total games with seven starts and posted a 4.48 ERA. Opponents have batted .234 against him and he has recorded 76 career strikeouts.

Haus attended ECC and pitched for the Warriors for two years (2017-18). He went 10-2 for the Warriors as a sophomore and tossed 104 innings. He made 16 starts and posted a 2.77 ERA with 98 strikeouts. As a freshman, Haus made 16 appearances and logged 46 innings with 41 strikeouts. He picked up four victories on the mound to go along with three saves.