FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Chicago State's Jonathan Sakurai of Aiea slid safely back to second in a pick-off attempt as Brian Finegan tried to make the play.
UH cruises past Cougars
Keahi Rawlins, Chuck Withers and Matthew Buck combined on a one-hitter as Hawaii defeated Chicago State 12-1 last night on the first day of the First Hawaii Title Rainbow Baseball Tournament.
The game, played at Murakami Stadium in front of 804 fans, was shortened to seven innings due to the 10-run rule.
Rawlins needed just seven pitches to retire the Cougars in order in the first, but struggled with his control in the second, third and fifth.
"I got into jams and got out of jams. I was satisfied with that, but I'm not satisfied with the overall performance," the sophomore right-hander said. "I fell behind too much and put it in cruise control after the first inning until coach (Chad Konishi) came out in the second and reminded me I had to compete."
In the tournament's opening game, The Citadel rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to upset Oregon State, ranked No. 20 by Collegiate Baseball, 7-6.
"We were very fortunate and hung tough. We were fortunate to have the right guy at the plate," Bulldogs' coach Fred Jordan said. "We've been losing in the ninth, so maybe this will give us some momentum."
The Rainbows (10-7, 1-0 tourney) quickly generated their own momentum with a six-run first that featured home runs by Rocky Russo and Nate Thurber.
Andrew Finegan walked on four pitches with one out and scored when Matt Inouye whacked a double on the first pitch he saw from Chicago State starter Aaron Lang to right-center field. Josh Green also walked on four pitches. Russo then lofted a 2-0 pitch over the right-field wall for his second homer of the season, a three-run shot.
"I've been working hard on my swing in the cage trying to figure out what was wrong and how I could get better," said Russo, who has worked on being quicker from side to side playing third base.
"There were some minor things in my stance. It's a little more open now and I'm more comfortable."
Andrew Sansaver then singled and scored on Thurber's third home run, a high drive that skipped off the top of the center-field fence.
The Rainbows offense was silent for the next three innings, unable to bring home Finegan, who led off the second with a triple to the alley in right, or take advantage of a pair of two-out walks in the third.
The Cougars (0-4, 0-1), who squandered a two-out, bases-loaded situation in the second, pushed across a run in the fifth without the benefit of a hit. Rawlins hit Brian Grippo with a pitch to start the inning. Jonathan Sakurai walked and both runners advanced on Dave Walter's sacrifice bunt. Grippo scored on Alexis Galloza's groundout.
Rawlins left after the fifth. Wilder retired CSU in order in the fifth and Buck faced just four batters in the seventh.
"Keahi wasn't consistent out there, especially out of the stretch," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "When he tries to go to the plate quickly, he struggles with his command. If he doesn't go quickly, he has a hard time holding runners."
Hawaii finally knocked Lang out of the game in the fifth when Sansaver beat out an infield single to deep first and Thurber lined a single to left. Right-hander Scott Fritzler replaced Lang, a left-hander.
Greg Kish singled to center on Fritzler's first pitch, scoring Sansaver, with Thurber stopping at second. Schafer Magana moved the runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt. Robbie Wilder walked, loading the bases. Thurber scored and the other runners advanced on a passed ball. Finegan walked, loading the bases again.
Inouye hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Kish and allowed the other runners to advance. Green walked, reloading the bases. Russo followed with a two-run single to center, and when the throw to third from center field went into the CSU dugout, Green also scored for a 12-1 UH lead.
The Citadel 7, No. 20 Oregon State 6
Chip Cannon lined a one-out pitch to the gap in left-center field off OSU closer Dallas Buck to clear the bases in the Bulldogs' (3-4, 1-0) dramatic victory over the Beavers (8-2, 0-1).Matt Covington led off the ninth with a bouncing single to left. Jon Aughey also singled to left. On a Josh Stackley sacrifice bunt, Beaver third baseman Shea McFeely threw high to first, loading the bases.
"We needed two runs and I just wanted to put the ball in play," said Cannon, who pitched the first six innings, but played the game as the designated hitter.
"He (Buck) has a live fastball and I was looking for something hard. I was lucky to find the gap."
Hawaii 12, Chicago St. 1
Chicago St. AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Walter cf 3 0 0 0 Wilder cf 4 1 0 0 Galloza 2b 3 0 0 1 Finegan ss 2 2 1 0 Torres lf-rf 2 0 0 0 Hanzawa ss 0 0 0 0 Paszko dh 3 0 0 0 Inouye c 3 1 2 2 Roberson rf-lf 3 0 0 0 Kahoali'i c 0 0 0 0 Reyes 3b 2 0 0 0 Green rf 2 2 0 0 Bass 1b 3 0 1 0 Lum rf 0 0 0 0 Grippo c 0 1 0 0 Russo 3b 4 1 2 5 Sakurai ss 2 0 0 0 Sansaver 1b 4 2 2 0 Tamura rf 0 0 0 0 Thurber dh 4 2 3 2 Oketani ph 0 0 0 0 Kish 1f 1 1 1 1 Mendoza ph-lf 1 0 0 0 Magana 2b 1 0 0 0 Totals 21 1 1 1 Totals 26 12 11 0
Chicago St. 000 010 0 -- 1 1 1 Hawaii 600 060 x -- 12 11 0
E--Walter. DP--CSU 1. LOB--CSU 6, Hawaii 7. 2B--Inouye. 3B--Finegan. HR--Russo (2), Thurber (3). SH--Walter, Magana. SF--Inouye. SB--Torres, Grippo, Sakurai, Inouye, Kish.
Chicago St. IP H R ER BB SO Lang (L, 0-1) 4.0 8 8 8 5 4 Fritzler 2.0 3 4 3 3 0 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Rawlins (W, 1-1) 5.0 1 1 1 4 2 Withers 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 Buck 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
WP--Fritzler. HBP--by Rawlins (Grippo), by Fritzler (Magana), by Buck (Grippo). BK--Lang. PB--Grippo. Umpires--Mike Evans (plate), Jim LeBeau (first), Keoki Torres (third).
T--2:26. A--804 (turnstile).
