Monday, March 23, 1998
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii head coach Les Murakami, left, is congratulated
by University of Hawaii President Kenneth Mortimer following
the Rainbows' 6-5 victory over Fresno State yesterday
at Rainbow Stadium.
Hawaii baseball coach Les Murakami
By Al Chase
gets his 1,000th career victory as
UH takes the series from division-
leading Fresno State
Star-BulletinVictory No. 1,000 is a done deal for University of Hawaii head baseball coach Les Murakami.
Hawaii survived two excruciating innings in which Fresno State forced the Rainbow faithful to endure each pitch and each swing of the bat, with hearts pounding right up to the final out.
Murakami, in his 28th season at UH, becomes the 10th active NCAA Division I baseball coach and the 18th in all to reach 1,000 victories. It came in his 1,515th game as Rainbow head coach.
During that span, Murakami has guided Hawaii to six Western Athletic Conference championships, 11 NCAA Regional appearances and one trip to the College World Series.
Today's games Lewis-Clark State vs. Nebraska, 11 a.m.; Wright State vs. Hawaii-Hilo, 2:30 p.m.; Hawaii vs. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, 6:35 p.m. Rainbow Easter Tournament
Tomorrow's games Nebraska vs. Wright State, 11 a.m.; Hawaii-Hilo vs. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, 2:30 p.m.; Hawaii vs. Lewis-Clark State, 6:35 p.m.
There was a season-high 69 wins in 1979 and a low of 22 last year, the only losing season for the UH skipper since the 'Bows went to an all-collegiate schedule in 1975.Yet, yesterday's 6-5 victory held a greater significance for the UH coaches and players. It gave them their first WAC series victory (they won two of three games).
"Yes, I'm glad to have 1,000," Murakami said. "Now maybe we can get on with it and just let the kids play. Maybe we can get on a roll in the WAC."
"I want to congratulate Les. It's well-deserved because he's done so much for baseball in Hawaii," said FSU head coach Bob Bennett, who has 1,138 career wins.
Bennett and Murakami have been friends since Bennett assisted Murakami with the 1978 USA team that defeated Japan, 4-3, in that annual series.
Yesterday, the Rainbows (20-11, 4-8 WAC) took 4-0 and 6-2 leads behind left-hander Randon Ho. He pitched into the eighth inning, his longest outing of the season.
Greg Millichap, moved to the leadoff spot in the batting order, started the four-run fourth inning with a double just inside the third base bag. Neal Honma was hit by a pitch and Jamie Aloy's perfectly placed bunt toward third loaded the bases with no outs.
Matt Wheeler's sacrifice fly to the warning track in center scored Millichap. Honma was tagged out between third and home plate on a botched delayed-steal attempt, with Aloy moving to third. But Joe Whitsett singled home Aloy, and Darren Blakely, hitting sixth in the lineup, capped the inning with a home run off the scoreboard in right centerfield.
FSU starter Adam Pettyjohn had retired the first nine 'Bows prior to Millichap's hit.
"I thought Pettyjohn had good stuff in the fourth, but his location was bad. He threw three or four balls right down the middle," Bennett said.
Fresno State (14-17, 5-4) scored two runs in the sixth. Ho walked the leadoff batter in the sixth. Jason Fanconi made him pay with an RBI-double. He later scored on Nick Garcia's two-out single.
UH's final runs were knocked in by players in the lineup primarily for their defensive skills -- catcher Kramer Aoki and second baseman Shane Chan, hitting .154 and .188, respectively, entering the game.
Whitsett's single to right started the seventh. Blakely then beat out a bunt toward first. Pettyjohn's throw was high and wide at first, giving UH runners at second and third with no outs.
One former Rainbow watching as UH coach Les Murakami recorded his 1,000th victory yesterday was University of Hawaii at Hilo head baseball coach Joey Estrella. Estrella on hand for wins
By Al Chase, Star-Bulletin
No. 1 and 1,000Estrella, then a sophomore, played shortstop for the 1972 Rainbows who produced Murakami's first victory, a 6-5 decision over Brigham Young.
"It was a night game at Honolulu Stadium and there was a decent crowd," Estrella said.
"I remember Rich Maltby had a great game. He made some good plays in the outfield, had three hits and I think he drove in the winning run."
Maltby's single scored pinch-runner Chester Murata in the ninth inning with the game winner.
In those days, UH played most of its games on campus at a field located approximately where the softball stadium now stands.
The Rainbows competed in the Hawaii Major League against civilian and military teams with much of the schedule being during the summer months.
Games against collegiate teams usually came during the Easter Tournament sponsored by the 14th Naval District, hence Honolulu Stadium as a venue.
"I think I got two hits which was pretty good for me in those days," Estrella said.
Aoki lifted a 1-2 pitch to right for a sacrifice fly, scoring Whitsett. Chan lined the next pitch to right through a drawn in infield to score Blakely for a 6-2 lead.
Fanconi singled and Simon Tafoya doubled to ignite an eighth-inning rally against Ho. Ken Mackenzie came on to retire one batter before surrendering consecutive singles. He gave way to reliever Ian Jones, who threw six pitches, all balls.
That's when Murakami called on Aloy, who hasn't pitched since the UCLA series in late January, to stop the Bulldogs' comeback. Aloy walked Carlos Aukerman to force home FSU's fifth run, but got pinch hitter Jeff Prieto to hit into an inning-ending double play.
In the ninth, Fanconi singled with one out and took second on a groundout, but Aloy got Craig da Luz to fly to Blakely in center to end the suspense.
The lineup shuffle was something Murakami mulled over the last few days during his daily jog.
"I thought about doing it in the Easter tournament, but Dave (Murakami, UH assistant coach) told me 'Why not do it now.' I had looked at the stats and Millichap wasn't hitting for average, but he was getting on base (18 walks in 13 games) and Blakely was striking out too much (24 times in 30 games) for a leadoff batter."
"Coach Les' idea was to get on base and his idea worked," said Millichap, who said he is becoming more comfortable at the plate. "I'd rather bat in the three spot or lower so I can see what the pitcher is throwing, but after the first time up, it doesn't matter."
"I thought it was a gag at first, but it worked," Blakely said.
Of his homer, the 6-foot-1 junior said, "It was a fastball and I attacked it pretty good."
Aloy, originally scheduled to start tonight's Rainbow Easter Tournament opener against Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, said Murakami had told him earlier in the week to be ready to pitch.
"It's not like I haven't been in that situation before, but I was a little nervous," Aloy said. "We may have felt a little extra pressure (for the 1,000th victory), but now we have to get a lot of things going for us, especially in the WAC. It's nice to win the series, and we have to take advantage of that."
Murakami and UH pitching coach Carl Furutani worked with Ho on his arm and head angle, trying to get the left-hander to keep his pitches down.
"When his head is up, his pitches are up," Murakami said. "Our kids have to grow up quickly, especially the pitchers. I think our position players can keep us in games, but we have to throw strikes."
Les Murakami's year-by-year totals
vs. collegiate opponents
Year W L T Pct. 1971 0 4 0 .000 1972 1 3 0 .250 1973 1 7 0 .125 1974 6 11 0 .353 1975 25 13 0 .658 1976 29 12 0 .707 1977 43 13 0 .768 1978 38 14 1 .726 1979 69 15 0 821 1980 60 18 0 .769 1981 50 16 0 .758 1982 59 17 0 .776 1983 47 20 0 .701 1984 48 22 1 .683 1985 56 31 0 .644 1986 43 24 0 642 1987 45 19 0 .703 1988 40 21 1 .653 1989 40 27 0 .597 1990 37 24 1 .605 1991 51 18 0 .739 1992 49 14 0 .778 1993 34 25 0 .576 1994 28 28 0 .500 1995 30 24 0 .556 1996 29 26 0 .527 1997 22 34 0 .393 1998 20 11 0 .645 Total 1,000 511 4 .661 Home 786 318 1 .721 Away 178 165 3 .519 Neutral 36 28 0 .563
Box Score
Fresno State Hawaii ab r h bi ab r h bi Gerber cf 4 1 0 0 Millichap lf 3 1 1 0 Fanconi ss 5 2 3 1 Honma rf 3 0 0 0 Tafoya 1b 5 1 1 0 Aloy 1b-p 4 1 1 0 da Luz 3b 5 0 0 0 Wheeler 3b 3 0 0 1 Garcia 2b 4 1 3 2 Whitsett dh 3 2 2 1 Davis dh 4 0 1 1 Konishi 1b 1 0 0 0 Poole pr 0 0 0 0 Blakely cf 3 2 2 2 Simioli c 2 0 0 0 Aoki c 2 0 0 1 Aukerman 1b 2 0 0 1 Chan 2b 3 0 1 1 Williams lf 2 0 0 0 Dartt ss 3 0 1 0 Guzman lf 0 0 0 0 Prieto ph 1 0 0 0 Duke lf 0 0 0 0 Totals 35 5 9 5 Totals 28 6 8 6 Fresno State 000 002 030--5 Hawaii 000 400 20x--6E--Pettyjohn (1). DP-UH 1 (Chan-Dartt-Konishi). LOB--Fresno State 8, Hawaii 2.2B--Fanconi (5), Tafoya (3), Millichap (2). HR--Blakely (3). SB--Dartt (10). SF--Wheeler (3), Aoki (1).
IP H R ER BB SO Pettyjohn (L, 2-4) 6-2/3 8 6 5 1 7 Rowe 1-1/3 0 0 0 0 2 Ho (W, 4-4) 7 6 4 4 3 5 Mackenzie 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 Jones 0 0 0 0 1 0 Aloy (S, 1) 1-2/3 1 0 0 1 1s Ho pitched to two batters in the eighth.Jones pitched to one batter in the eighth.
HBP--Honma (by Pettyjohn).
Umpires--Randall (plate), Williams (first), Ogawa (third).
T--2:32. A--1,500.
WAC
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Fresno St. 5 4 .556 -- 14 17 .452 San Diego St. 4 5 .444 1 13 12 .520 San Jose St. 3 5 .375 11/2 17 11 .607 Hawaii 4 8 .333 21/2 20 11 .645
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Gr. Canyon 5 4 .556 -- 17 11 .607 Brig. Young 4 5 .444 1 14 11 .560 Air Force 2 7 .222 3 7 19 .368 Utah 1 8 .111 4 9 20 .310
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 14 1 .933 -- 23 9 .719 Texas Christian 6 2 .750 41/2 19 10 .655 Nev-Las Vegas 5 4 .556 6 22 10 .688 New Mexico 5 5 .500 61/2 15 16 .484Hawaii 6, Fresno State 5
Utah 7, Air Force 2
New Mexico 10, Grand Canyon 92
Nevada-Las Vegas 12, Rice 1
San Diego State 4, San Jose State 3
Rainbow Men Baseball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
