Rainbows beat up
Hornets with 16-hit attackHawaii gets hits from every offensive
starter in a 10-7 win over Sacramento StateWAC standings
SACRAMENTO >> Tuesday's travel schedule that had the Hawaii baseball team checking into its hotel around midnight had no effect on the way the Rainbows handled their bats yesterday.
Every starter had at least one hit. The Rainbows (26-20) collected hits early and often to build a 9-4 lead after five innings en route to a 10-7 nonconference victory over the Sacramento State Hornets.
Hawaii's offense collected 16 hits, including four doubles, a triple by Jaziel Mendoza and a solo home run by Josh Green.
Two aspects of the game of baseball that really helped the 'Bows were getting the leadoff man aboard and bringing runners in scoring position home.
In five of the six innings that a UH leadoff batter reached base, the Rainbows scored. Perhaps even more important at Hornet Field, a noted hitters' ballpark, the first five Rainbows to advance to third base with less than two outs, scored on timely hits by teammates. To complement that effort, the 'Bows brought two of three runners at third base with two outs across the plate.
"We were able to execute without the bunt today because we really swung the bats well," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso. "We actually pitched OK except for a couple of times when we got into trouble. Justin Cayetano threw pretty good for four innings, but we kind of expected he might have trouble in the fifth."
The Hornets (28-20) scored three runs in the fifth, two coming on Jesse Schmidt's home run. Nick Ponomarenko came in and held Sacramento State in check until the ninth when a one-out single and two walks loaded the bases.
Guy McDowell finally put a stop to the rally, but not before three inherited runners scored and Josh Green made a fine running catch in right-center field for the final out.
"That ball was juiced. It was too high and I didn't think it was going out, but I thought it might plug a gap. Josh made a really nice play to catch that ball," said Trapasso.
Green also hit his second homer of the season in the fifth and doubled and scored the 'Bows final run in the eighth.
The game's defensive gem went to UH second baseman Isaac Omura when he roamed left to rob John Ache of a hit.
"He got to the ball, did a full 360 and threw to first. I even wrote down 4-3, great play on my chart," Trapasso said.
Omura also connected for a two-run double in UH's five-run fourth inning when 10 Rainbows went to the plate.
Ricky Bauer (3-3) gets the start tomorrow when UH opens a three-game Western Athletic Conference series at Nevada.
Notes: The Rainbow defense had not made an error in 45 innings when third baseman Brent Cook bobbled a ground ball with two outs in the ninth yesterday. ... Freshman right-hander Michael Peck has been dismissed from the team. The reasons were not disclosed.
Hawaii 10, Sacramento St. 7
Hawaii AB R H BI Sac. St. AB R H BI Finegan ss 4 1 1 1 Acha 2b 3 0 0 0 Sansaver 1b 5 0 1 1 Hinkle 2b 2 0 0 0 Cook 3b 4 1 2 1 Reimer cf 3 2 2 0 Mendoza lf 5 0 2 1 Schmidt rf 4 2 3 2 Russo dh 4 1 2 1 Olsen 1b 5 1 2 1 Inouye cf 5 1 2 0 Kinsey dh 4 0 2 1 Bock c 5 2 2 0 Wilson c 5 0 0 0 Green rf 5 3 2 1 LaVier 3b 5 1 1 0 Omura 2b 4 1 1 3 Strombach lf 3 0 0 0 Blauser ph 1 0 1 0 Rincon ss 3 0 1 1 Ciani ph 1 1 1 0 Totals 41 10 16 9 Totals 39 7 12 5
Hawaii 210 510 000 -- 10 16 1 Sacramento St. 010 030 003 -- 7 12 1 DP -- Hawaii 1 (Sansaver-Finegan-Ponomarenko). LOB -- UH 7, SSU 10. 2B -- Sansaver (10), Cook (9), Green (10), Omura (7), Kinsey (17). 3B --Mendoza (1). HR -- Green (2), Schmidt (16). SB -- Finegan (4). SF--Finegan (3)
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Cayetano 4.1 8 4 4 2 1 Ponomarenko (W,4-1) 4.0 3 3 2 2 2 McDowell 0.2 1 0 0 0 1
Sacramento St. IP H R ER BB SO S.Cuckovich (L, 6-4) 3.2 8 8 6 1 4 Wheeler 1.1 3 1 1 0 1 Guntz 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 Correa 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 Plouffe 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 M. Cuckovich 1.0 1 0 0 1 2 WP -- McDowell (8), S. Cuckovich (7). HBP -- Kinsey (by McDowell. Umpires -- Home: Phil Benson. First: Brian Rose. Third: Bill Swanson. T -- 2:57. A -- 129.
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WAC standings
WAC games Overall W L Pct. GB W L Rice 19 2 .905 -- 40 7 Nevada 12 5 .706 5 24 19 Fresno State 8 10 .444 9.5 23 22 San Jose State 7 13 .350 11.5 22 23 Hawaii 7 14 .333 12 26 20 x-Louisiana Tech 6 15 .286 13 14 28 x-also has one nonconference tie
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