[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
Rainbows end season
with loss to SpartansSan Jose State rallies in the eighth
for a 6-4 victory over Hawaii
San Jose State rallied for the second consecutive day in the eighth inning and defeated Hawaii 6-4 yesterday in the final Western Athletic Conference game of the season.
It was the first time the Rainbows were swept in a three-game WAC series this year.
The host Spartans erased a one-run deficit when Josh Lansford belted a three-run homer over the left-field fence with Ryan Angel and Anthony Contreras on board.
Angel started the eighth with a single to left and was safe at second when UH starter Clary Carlsen, who had thrown 114 pitches entering the inning, committed a fielding error on Contreras' sacrifice bunt.
Lansford connected on a 1-1 pitch for his third homer of the season.
With bullpen regulars Guy McDowell and Darrell Fisherbaugh pressed into action in Saturday's game after scheduled starter Stephen Bryant was scratched with a strained back, UH coach Mike Trapasso stayed with Carlsen longer than in a normal situation.
"Who was I going to go to?" Trapasso said. "I left Clary in to win or lose it on his own. It's just a shame that everything caught up to us at the end."
Lansford had opened the second with a double and scored on a single to right by Brandon Fromm to give SJSU (23-31-1, 11-19) a 1-0 lead in the second.
The Rainbows (31-24, 13-16) scored all their runs in the fifth inning. Nate Thurber walked and was sacrificed to second by Josh Green. Brian Finegan, who started his 111th consecutive game for UH yesterday, singled. Both runners scored on Greg Kish's second home run of the season, a shot off the scoreboard in left field.
One out later, Jaziel Mendoza hit his second homer of the year, a blast that cleared the fence in left-center field, for a 4-1 UH lead.
Fromm hit a solo homer to start the Spartans seventh. Ruben Martinez then singled to center with one out and moved to second on a groundout.
He scored on Kevin Frandsen's single to left as SJSU closed to 4-3.
Hawaii had runners at first and second with two outs on singles by Isaac Omura and Finegan in the ninth. But Brad Kilby, who earned the victory for the second consecutive day, got Kish to pop out to catcher Scott Niheu, ending the season for both teams.
With Louisiana Tech losing to league champion Rice yesterday, the Spartans finish in fifth place.
The 'Bows finish fourth.
The game marked the conclusion of the UH careers of seven seniors: Carlsen, Finegan, Green, Mendoza, Creighton Kahoali'i, Andrew Sansaver and Chuck Withers.
WAC standings
Conference All games W L Pct. GB W L Pct. x-Rice 24 6 .800 -- 43 12 .782 Fresno State 17 12 .586 6 1/2 29 29 .500 Nevada 14 16 .467 10 30 29 .508 Hawaii 13 16 .448 10 1/2 31 24 .564 San Jose State 11 19 .367 13 23 31 .426 Louisiana Tech 10 20 .333 14 20 38 .345 x-clinched WAC title
San Jose State has one non-conference tie.Yesterday
San Jose State 6, Hawaii 4
Rice 8, Louisiana Tech 1
Fresno State 12, Nevada 1
San Jose St. 6, Hawaii 4
Hawaii AB R H BI SJSU AB R H BI Finegan ss 4 1 3 0 Frandsen 3b 4 0 1 1 Kish rf 4 1 1 3 Angel lf 4 1 1 0 Inouye c 3 0 0 0 Contreras ss 3 1 0 0 Mendoza lf 4 1 1 1 Lansford dh 4 2 2 3 Russo 3b 3 0 0 0 Becktel rf 4 0 1 0 Sansaver 1b 4 0 0 0 Fromm 1b 4 1 3 2 Omura 2b 4 0 1 0 Niheu c 4 0 1 0 Thurber dh 3 1 2 0 Martinez 2b 4 1 1 0 Green cf 2 0 0 0 Corrick cf 2 0 0 0 Magana ph 1 0 0 0 Totals 32 4 8 4 Totals 33 6 10 6 Hawaii 000 040 000 -- 4 8 2 SJSU 010 000 23x -- 6 10 0 E--Finegan (19); Carlsen (2). DP--Hawaii 1, SJSU 1. LOB--Hawaii 7, SJSU 5. 2B--Thurber (12); Lansford (13). HR--Kish (2); Mendoza (2); Lansford (3); Fromm (7). SH--Inouye (8); Green (4); Contreras (7).
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Carlsen (L, 6-8) 7.0 10 6 5 1 3 Wright 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Amaya 4.2 5 4 4 4 2 Winck 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 Kilby (W, 4-1) 4.0 3 0 0 0 3 WP--Carlsen (3); Amaya (7). Umpires--Tom Chandler (plate), Larry Randall (first), Dan Payne (third).
T--2:31. A--700.