SAN DIEGO -- Had San Diego State pitcher Chad Wanders been on Les Murakami's side of the field as he once was, the University of Hawaii would have come away with a startling sweep.Instead, the veteran Rainbows head coach played a hunch that Troy Yoshimasu would be equal to the task of facing Wanders in yesterday's Western Athletic Conference finale with the Aztecs.
He wasn't. Not even close.
The sophomore starting pitcher managed only one out in the first inning that saw the Aztecs put seven runs on the board en route to an easy 9-4 win over the Rainbows at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
It snapped Hawaii's five-game winning streak and put a damper on the Rainbows' recent run to get back into the league picture.
If the Rainbows had been victorious, they would have been within a half-game of the final spot in the six-team WAC postseason tournament played next month.
Now, they trail the Aztecs by 2-1/2 games for the wild-card spot entering this weekend's crucial home series with San Jose State.
"We needed a sweep, but hey, nobody thought we'd take two of three here anyway," Murakami said yesterday. "I told the kids they should be proud.
"Now we need to come home and take care of business with San Jose State. We just need to keep winning as many as we can."
San Diego State raised its league mark to 10-8 and overall record to 27-13-1. Hawaii fell to 7-10 and 15-28.
If the Rainbows lose any one of their remaining 13 games, they will finish with a losing record for the first time since Murakami went to an all-collegiate schedule in 1975.
Wanders kept Hawaii from taking all three from San Diego State with a masterful pitching performance. While the Rainbows have won three of four there several times in the storied history between these two rivals, they never have swept the Aztecs in their own back yard.
"Chad pitched well, but he didn't really have that much pressure on him," Murakami said of Wanders, who was one of many players who left the program in 1994. He is 5-3 for the season.
"Not that many of our guys knew him because that was the class where we lost so many players. I played a hunch that Troy would pitch well.
"He got over his tendinitis and was keeping the ball down low in the bullpen, but once in the game, he missed up in the zone and they took advantage of it. We still came back with four runs in the ninth."
Robert Medeiros keyed that inning with a two-run homer off Wanders. Pinch-hitter Kelly Konishi also had a two-run single, but Michael Dartt popped out to second with the bases loaded to end the threat.
Hawaii San Diego State ab r h bi ab r h bi Nakano dh 4 0 0 0 Smothers cf 5 1 3 2 Dartt ss 4 0 2 0 Lopez 2b 3 3 2 1 Millichap rf 4 0 0 0 Bevins rf 5 1 2 2 Murphy 3b 4 1 1 0 Hammons 1b 5 0 0 0 Medeiros c 4 1 2 2 Brunette 1b 0 0 0 0 Aloy 1b 3 1 1 0 Pelaez 3b 5 1 2 1 Honma lf 4 1 2 0 Lockhart lf 3 1 0 0 Masanda 2b 4 0 1 0 Hagins dh 4 1 2 1 Blakely cf 3 0 0 0 Comeaux ss 4 1 2 2 Konishi ph 1 0 1 2 Coddington c 3 0 1 0 Totals 35 4 10 4 Totals 37 9 14 9 Hawaii 000 000 004--4 San Diego State 700 001 01x--9E--Dartt. DP--San Diego State 2 (Pelaez unassisted, Comeaux-Hammons). LOB--Hawaii 7, San Diego State 8.
2B--Hagins. 3B--Comeaux. HR--Medeiros (4), Smothers (2), Lopez (1), Bevins (8). SB--Lockhart (7). SH--Lopez.
IP H R ER BB SO Yoshimasu (L, 1-1) 1/3 4 5 5 1 1 MacKenzie 3-2/3 5 2 2 0 1 Spurgeon 4 5 2 2 2 2 Wanders (W, 5-3) 8-2/3 9 4 4 2 10 Kuhlmeyer 0 1 0 0 1 0 Dufek (S, 5) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0Kuhlmeyer faced 2 batters in the 9th.
WP--Spurgeon. T--2:57. A--446.
Umpires--Ridd (plate), Franceschiel (first), Lopez (third).
West Division
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. San Jose St. 15 6 .714 -- 30 14 .682 Fresno St. 14 6 .700 1/2 28 16 .636 San Diego St. 10 8 .556 3-1/2 27 13 .671 Hawaii 7 10 .412 6 15 28 .349San Diego State has one tie.
North Division
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. BYU 14 4 .778 -- 23 9 .719 Utah 11 7 .611 3 24 18 .571 Grand Canyon 3 14 .178 10-1/2 11 27 .289 Air Force 3 14 .178 10-1/2 9 25 .265Utah has one tie.
South Division
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 13 8 .619 -- 28 13 .683 TCU 10 11 .476 3 18 22 .450 New Mexico 5 10 .333 5 16 22 .421 Nev-Las Vegas 4 11 .267 6 18 22 .450
Yesterday's resultsSan Diego State 9, Hawaii 4
Fresno St. 10, San Jose St. 1
Air Force 3, Utah 1 (1st)
Air Force 4, Utah 1 (2nd)
Rice 11, Texas Christian 7 (1st)
Rice 6, Texas Christian 4 (2nd)