THE collapse is complete.
After being wasted by Fresno State over the weekend, the University of
Hawaii baseball team staggered through another back-breaking loss.
Last night's embarrassing 4-3 defeat to sister school UH-Hilo is about as
low as the Rainbows hope to go entering the final five weeks of the regular
season.
Granted, the Vulcans showed a gritty determination to defeat the Rainbows for only the 10th time in school history.
But this is a team that's only 9-24 overall and fresh off a weekend shellacking by No. 1-ranked Cal State-Fullerton. In three lopsided wins, the Titans rang up 55 runs.
Not so long ago, Hawaii would have held its own against schools like Fullerton. At home, the Rainbows might even have managed to take two out of three.
Unfortunately for UH head coach Les Murakami, those days are gone. The Rainbows have fallen so far, so fast, that they can't even beat the Vulcans.
Losing to Hilo in the second round of the 21st annual Bank of America Rainbow Easter Tournament forced Murakami to go with ace Mark Johnson in tonight's 6:35 matchup with Oregon State.
The Beavers defeated Lewis-Clark State, 7-3, in an earlier tournament game to become the only team with a 2-0 record. Hawaii fell to 1-1 in tournament play.
Hilo and Nittaidai also are 1-1. The Japanese university defeated Wright State, 10-6. The Raiders dropped to 0-2 in tourney action.
"Had we won tonight's game, I would have saved Mark Johnson," Murakami said. "But now we have to use him, because Oregon State has a pretty good team."
The Beavers of the Pac-10 North are 15-4-1 for the season. Their tie is against San Diego State, a team that took two of three from Hawaii last month.
If the Beavers are the class act of the six-team field, then the Rainbows can ill afford to fall any further behind.
For that not to happen, Hawaii must receive better clutch hitting from seniors Jody Napuunoa and Jaime Ahu, and junior Robert Medeiros.
That threesome was a combined 0-for-10 last night. To make matters worse, Ahu and Napuunoa hit into costly double plays. Medeiros also stranded runners on second and third in the first inning, and a runner at second in the third.
Ahu also had a chance to give the Rainbows the lead in the eighth, but grounded out to first with runners on first and second.
On that play, Medeiros and Kenn Wakakuwa were on the move. It appeared both runners, who had managed one-out walks, would be safe on a double steal.
"Ahu should have just waited, because both guys had those bases stolen," Murakami said. "Instead, he got impatient and grounded out."
True freshman Tracy Nakano followed with a groundout to short to end Hawaii's final threat and assure Hilo of its biggest win of the season.
"It was a little payback for that (7-0) loss against them on Kauai," said winning pitcher Brendan Sagara, who raised his record to 6-1 in his first complete game in two years.
"This is a big win for us, especially coming off that tough trip to Fullerton. This feels real good," he said.
Hilo wasted little time getting to UH starter Randon Ho, who fell to 4-2 with the complete-game loss.
After walking leadoff batter Brolin Burke, Ho surrendered a one-run triple to right-center by Keiki Mattson. Mattson scored on a groundout by Felipe Caoili to make it 2-0.
Hawaii came up with a single run in the third.
Designated hitter Keoni Hansen reached safely on an error by shortstop Ronald Ramirez. He went to third on a single by Chris Garnett and scored on another single by Greg Millichap.
Caoili led off the fourth for the Vulcans with a double down the right-field line. He came around to score on a single to center by Mike Jackson.
Hawaii tied it in the bottom half of the inning.
Center fielder Darren Blakely got things started with a two-out single to left. Neal Honma followed with a bloop double, with both runners crossing the plate on a single by Hansen.
Hilo continued to hit Ho hard in the fifth.
Burke opened the inning with a triple down the right-field line. He scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Geoff Hirai for what proved to be the winning run.
Oregon State 7, Lewis-Clark State 3: Oregon State won its second game of the tournament by defeating top-ranked NAIA school Lewis-Clark State.
Ryan McDonald keyed a five-run third inning with a double that drove in a pair of Oregon State runners. He also had an RBI-single in the seventh. He was 3-for-3 and was hit by a pitch as well.
It was more than enough for Beavers relief pitcher Mike Boire, who went 41/3 innings of to pick up his first win of the season. The Beavers are 15-4-1 for the season. Lewis-Clark State fell to 17-5.
Nittaidai 10, Wright State 6: Nittaidai leveled its tournament record at 1-1 with the late win over Wright State.
Tied at 6-6 going into the final inning, Nittaidai broke it open on a bases-loaded wild pitch and a three-run homer by Kazutoya Abe to left-center.
The Raiders fell to 0-2 in tournament play.
ab r h bi Burke rf 3 2 1 0 Hirai 3b 3 0 0 1 Mattson cf 4 1 1 1 Caoili dh 3 1 2 1 Miura pr 0 0 0 0 M. Jackson lf 2 0 2 1 Tam c 3 0 0 0 A. Jackson 1b 3 0 0 0 Baptista 2b 4 0 0 0 Ramirez ss 4 0 0 0 Totals 29 4 6 4Hawaii
ab r h bi Honma rf-cf 5 1 1 0 Hansen dh 5 1 2 2 Garnett c 4 0 2 0 Millichap lf 4 0 1 1 Napuunoa 2b 3 0 0 0 Medeiros 3b 3 0 0 0 Wakakuwa 1b 2 0 1 0 Ahu ss 4 0 0 0 Blakely cf 3 1 1 0 Nakano ph 1 0 0 0 Ross rf 0 0 0 0 Totals 34 3 8 3 Hawaii-Hilo 200 110 000--4 Hawaii 001 200 000--3E-Ramirez. DP-Hawaii-Hilo 2 (Hirai-Baptista-A. Jackson, Hirai-A. Jackson). LOB-Hawaii-Hilo 5, Hawaii 10.
IP H R ER BB SO Sagara (W,6-1) 9 8 3 2 4 3 Ho (L,4-2) 9 6 4 4 4 4WP-Ho. HBP-Millichap and Wakakuwa (by Sagara). T-2:25. A-1,634 (turnstile), 3,565 (tickets sold). Umpires-Leonard (plate), Montalbo (first), Howe (third).