Monday, April 13, 1998
Rainbows give one
to Frogs
Lose series two-to-one
\ By Al Chase
Star-BulletinExchanging gifts is proper in social settings but not on the baseball field.
After taking advantage of walks to pull out a victory Saturday night, the University of Hawaii Rainbows (28-16 overall, 6-12 league) turned around and presented Texas Christian University with three gift runs in the first inning yesterday.
TCU (24-16, 11-6) won the rubber game of the three-game Western Athletic Conference series, 9-4, before 666 fans at Rainbow Stadium yesterday. The visitors maintained their position as the top wild-card team in the WAC playoff race.
The Horned Frogs resembled a marksman sighting in against UH starter Patrick McNair's offerings in the first inning.
Leadoff batter Sam Lunsford lofted a fly ball to left. One out. No. 2 hitter Mark Silva drove one to deep center. Two outs. Royce Huffman found the range and powered one to right. Opps! Bulls-eye. Home run.
Then a walk, an error by UH second baseman Shane Chan and another walk loaded the bases. Another walk brought in the second run. Jef Yarbrough hit a slow chopper to third for an infield single and the third run. Mike Yarborough lined a single to left for the fourth run.
Only a fine throw from UH left fielder Brandon Martin to third baseman Matt Wheeler to catcher Kramer Aoki, who tagged out Jay LaFlair, prevented a fifth run.
However, digging out of a 4-0 hole proved to be too much for the Rainbows, although they scored twice in the second on Martin's RBI single and Aoki's sacrifice fly.
The problem was generating any kind of offense against 6-foot-2, 190-pound freshman right-hander Chris Frazier, whose previous college experience totaled 8-1/3 innings of action.
"We've been leaning toward him the past week because he's been throwing the most strikes in the bullpen," TCU head coach Lance Brown said. "All we really wanted him to do was give us five or six good innings."
How about a six-hit, complete game with just two walks and six strikeouts, coach?
"He was a 14th-round draft choice (Atlanta Braves), but didn't sign," Brown said. "He mixed his fastball well with a breaking pitch and a straight change-up."
That kept the UH hitters off balance and as UH hitting coach Dave Murakami said, "Everybody is still trying to hit home runs."
The Horned Frogs put the game away in the seventh. Singles by Silva and Huffman (8-for-12 in the series) and Chris Connally's triple to left-center field ended Kamuela Binkie's tenure on the mound after three batters.
David Wallace's RBI single finished the TCU scoring.
"We made it easy by giving them four runs in the first. Even at 5-2, I felt we still had a chance," UH head coach Les Murakami said. "We just didn't play well.
"I took a chance with Binkie. He's been our lucky pitcher and I thought he might get number seven (Binkie's record is 6-1). He throws that slow ball."
But, all three TCU batters showed patience and hit Binkie hard.
McNair lasted until the fifth, but it was a struggle for the 6-4, 177-pound freshman right-hander.
"Lately, I've had trouble throwing strikes and my split-finger was in the dirt today. There's not much else to say," McNair said. "It's my mechanics. I have to work on my balance."
The inability to win in the WAC after compiling a 22-4 record against nonconference opponents is perplexing. Especially since a quick peek at the conference standings indicates the WAC is not blessed with a lot of strong teams this season.
"It's almost like we don't know what to do to win," said UH catcher Lars Hansen, temporarily sidelined by tightness in his lower back. "It's strange. It's not like we don't have the confidence to go out there and win."
FACT: No UH starting pitcher has made it to the sixth inning in the last six WAC games.
RECRUIT SIGNS: Joel Lozano, a 6-1, 185-pound left-handed pitcher from Centennial High School in Bakersfield, Calif., signed a letter of intent to play for UH next season.
Box Score
Horned Frogs 9, Rainbows 4
Texas Christian Hawaii ab r h bi ab r h bi Lunsford 2b 4 0 0 0 Dartt ss 4 0 2 0 Silva c 4 1 2 0 Honma rf 4 0 0 0 Huffman 3b 5 2 3 1 Aloy 1b 4 0 1 0 Connally dh 4 2 2 2 Nakano dh 2 2 0 0 Wallace 1b 4 1 2 1 Wheeler 3b-c 3 1 0 0 Howe lf 3 2 0 0 Martin lf 4 1 2 1 LaFlair rf 0 0 0 1 Blakely cf 4 0 0 0 Bates ph 1 0 0 0 Aoki c 1 0 0 1 Wilson rf 3 0 0 0 Takamori ph 1 0 0 0 Yarbrough ss 4 1 2 1 Perreira 3b 1 0 1 2 Scarborgh cf 3 0 1 1 Chan 2b 2 0 0 0 Millichap ph 1 0 0 0 Pico 2b 0 0 0 0 Konishi ph 1 0 0 0 Totals 35 9 12 7 Totals 32 4 6 4 Texas Christian 400 100 400--9 Hawaii 020 000 002--4E--Huffman (11), Howe (2), Wilson (2), Chan (8), McNair (1).DP--TCU 1 (Lunsford-Yarbrough-Wallace), UH 1 (Wheeler-Chan-Aloy). LOB--TCU 7, UH 5.
2B--Yarbrough (5), Aloy (11), Perreira (2). 3B--Connally (4). HR--Huffman (11). SH--Scarborough (4). SF--Aoki (3).
IP H R ER BB SO Frazier (W, 2-0) 9 6 4 4 2 6 McNair (L, 5-3) 4-1/3 7 5 1 5 2 Jones 1-2/3 0 0 0 0 2 Binkie 0 3 3 3 0 0 Ho 3 2 1 1 2 1Binkie pitched to three batters in the seventh.WP-Ho (6). HBP--Wheeler (by Frazier).
Umpires--Galbreath (plate), Samuels (first), Montalbo (third).
T--3:07. A--666.
WAC
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Fresno St. 11 6 .647 -- 20 20 .500 San Diego St. 10 7 .588 1 20 16 .556 San Jose St. 8 9 .471 3 23 15 .605 Hawaii 6 12 .333 5-1/2 28 16 .636
Conference Overall Team W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Gr. Canyon 9 7 .563 -- 21 16 .568 Brig. Young 7 11 .389 3 21 17 .553 Air Force 5 13 .278 5 11 26 .297 Utah 4 12 .250 5 14 24 .368
Conference Overall Team W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 18 3 .857 -- 31 13 .705 Texas Christian 11 6 .647 5 24 16 .600 Nev-Las Vegas 10 8 .556 6-1/2 27 15 .643 New Mexico 7 12 .368 10 17 24 .415
Texas Christian 9, Hawaii 4
Nevada-Las Vegas 12, Air Force 6
New Mexico 27, Rice 26
WAC tournament race
Conference W L Pct. Rice (South) 18 3 .857 Fresno St. (West) 11 6 .647 Grand Canyon (North) 9 7 .563
Conference Team W L Pct. GB Texas Christian 11 6 .647 -- San Diego St. 10 7 .588 -1/2 Nev-Las Vegas 10 8 .556 1-1/2 San Jose St. 8 9 .471 3 Brigham Young 7 11 .389 4-1/2 New Mexico 7 12 .368 5 Hawaii 6 12 .333 5-1/2 Air Force 5 13 .278 6-1/2 Utah 4 12 .250 6-1/2Six teams qualify for the conference tournament, May 13-16, at Tony Gwynn Stadium on the San Diego State campus. The three division winners automatically qualify regardless of their conference record. The next three teams with the best conference record also qualify.
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