Monday, February 23, 1998
LMU gets
no relief from UH
For the second game in a row a Rainbow pitcher goes the distance as Hawaii sweeps
By Al Chase
Star-BulletinEach time Patrick McNair takes the mound he expects to pitch a complete game.
Yesterday, the 6-foot-4, 180-pound freshman right-hander from Arlington, Va., went the distance in only his second start for the Rainbows.
Relying mostly on his fastball, McNair (2-0) pitched a five-hitter as the University of Hawaii edged Loyola Marymount, 2-1, before 1,166 spectators at Rainbow Stadium.
The victory gave the Rainbows a three-game sweep of the Lions, their fourth sweep in six tries this season.
It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Rainbows. They will take a 16-3 record to the mainland for this weekend's Western Athletic Conference season-opening series at San Jose State.
The only LMU run came in the first inning and was unearned.
McNair, whose earned run average dropped to 1.42, retired 11 consecutive Lions from the second inning through the fifth before hitting LMU's Kevin Gustorf with a pitch to start the sixth.
After the first inning, the Lions only managed to get runners past first base twice.
Jack Brooks singled and moved to second on a passed ball with one out in the second. But McNair struck out the next two Lions.
Fred Harlambakis opened the eighth with a single and was sacrificed to second. However, when the next batter flew out to fairly deep right, Harlambakis went halfway to third instead of tagging at second and had to return to second.
He went to third on McNair's only wild pitch, but would have scored easily to tie the game had he been at third.
"That was a big one," Hawaii head coach Les Murakami said. "I had no idea why he wasn't tagging because the ball was going that way and the wind was blowing that way."
Catcher Lars Hansen said McNair had excellent location throughout and no loss of velocity in the late innings.
"I felt strong," McNair said. "When I came here this fall I hadn't pitched much in high school so I figured the best way to pitch was to throw as hard as I can. I learned real quick that wasn't the right way. The coaches showed me balance. That way I can easily go through the course of the game. I felt even stronger in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings."
McNair pitched eight innings in winning the final game of the Florida State series. He felt the only difference between the two outings was the approach taken by opposing batters.
"Florida State took a pitch. That made it a little bit easier on me," he said. "After watching the first two games, I knew these guys were swinging at the first pitch. So I just tried to keep the ball low and throw strikes. Throwing strikes is the key to the game."
McNair walked just one and fanned five.
"The big thing was to see if he could repeat his performance," UH pitching coach Carl Furutani. "He basically duplicated Dusty (Bergman)."
Bergman threw a four-hit complete game against LMU Saturday.
"We haven't had one complete game for so long. To get two in a row is kind of refreshing," Murakami said. "The two guys threw strikes. It gave us a chance to play."
Hawaii manufactured the runs it needed in the fifth inning with help from LMU left-handed starter Ben Bonilla, who hit Hansen and Michael Dartt to start the inning.
After failing to sacrifice, Darren Blakely hit a slow bouncer to short to advance both runners. Switch-hitting Neal Honma then lined a 3-2 hanging curve to left for a double, scoring Hansen and Dartt.
Honma, a natural right-handed hitter, said he has always felt more comfortable from that side.
"For some reason I'm really picking up the ball well lately," said Honma, who also had two singles and a walk in four trips.
Matt Wheeler also had three hits to improve hit batting average to .412 (28-for-68). He aggravated a hamstring injury to his right leg making a diving stop in the seventh inning, but was able to stay in the game.
The Honma file
Neal Honma, who was 3-for-3 and knocked in both Hawaii runs yesterday, has done it all for UH this season:
Year: senior
Box Score
Loyola Marymount Hawaii ab r h bi ab r h bi Gustorf 3b 3 0 0 0 Blakely cf 4 0 0 0 Hook ss 3 1 1 0 Honma rf 3 0 3 2 Riordan lf 4 0 0 0 Aloy 1b 3 0 0 0 Beaver 1b 4 0 0 1 Whitsett lf 3 0 0 0 Walter c 4 0 2 0 Nakano ph 0 0 0 0 Angel 2b 4 0 0 0 Martin pr-lf 0 0 0 0 Brooks dh 4 0 1 0 Wheeler 3b 4 0 3 0 Harl'akis rf 3 0 1 0 Perreira 2b 3 0 0 0 Ohira cf 2 0 0 0 Konishi ph 1 0 0 0 Chan 2b 0 0 0 0 Takamori dh 3 0 0 0 Hansen c 1 1 0 0 Dartt ss 2 1 1 0 Totals 31 1 5 1 Totals 27 2 7 2 Loyola Marymount 100 000 000--1 Hawaii 000 020 00x--2E--Wheeler (7).DP--LMU 2 (Angel-Hook-Beaver, Gustorf-Angel-Beaver). LOB--LMU 6, UH 7.
2B--Honma 2 (5), Wheeler (5). SB--Blakely (18), Honma (12). S--Ohira (2), Aloy (2).
IP H R ER BB SO Bonilla (L, 0-2) 7-1/3 7 2 2 1 2 Cecchin 2/3 0 0 0 1 0 McNair (W, 2-0) 9 5 1 0 1 5WP--McNair (3). PB--Hansen (2). BK--Bonilla (1). HBP--Dartt, Hansen 2 (by Bonilla), Gustorf (by McNair).Umpires--Tomaszewski (plate), Ogawa (bases).
T--2:36. A--1,166.
Rainbow Men Baseball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
