Garza baffles ’Bows
in FSU’s 6-3 victory

The Bulldogs’ junior right-hander,
who beat UH twice last season,
strikes out 11 and walks two

Matt Garza certainly makes the most of his starts against the Hawaii Rainbows.

The junior right-hander held the 'Bows to four hits through seven innings to lead host Fresno State to a 6-3 win in the Western Athletic Conference baseball opener for the Bulldogs last night at Pete Beiden Field.

Garza, who beat Hawaii twice last year, 2-0 and 7-2, walked two and struck out 11, one short of his single-game high.

Hawaii did not get its first hit until the fifth inning when Schafer Magana hit a ball that ricocheted off Garza for an infield single. The second UH hit in the seventh was exactly the same, this time off the bat of Adam Roberts.

The Rainbows went on to score two runs in the seventh on Erik Ammon's two-out single to right-center field, but that only cut the deficit to four runs, 6-2.

UH scored another run in the eighth off reliever Brandon Miller. Isaac Omura led off with a double down the left-field line. The next two batters were unable to get the ball out of the infield, but Roberts grounded a two-out single to left, scoring Omura.

The Bulldogs (15-15, 1-0 WAC) jumped on UH starter Steven Wright for six runs in the first three innings, with four coming in the second.

FSU's six-run advantage proved too much for the 'Bows (13-14, 1-3) to overcome.

Wright hit leadoff batter DeAndre Miller with a 1-1 pitch to start the bottom of the first inning. The sophomore right-hander paid for the mistake when Nick Moresi hit the first of his three doubles to the gap in right-center to score Miller.

The Bulldogs' second inning started with a weak pop off Chase Moore's bat that landed behind the mound for an infield single. He took second on Ryan Overland's one-out bloop single to short center field.

Wright then fanned Doug Fister for the second out. He got ahead two strikes on the count to Miller, who fouled off six pitches and worked the count full, before he finally walked.

Christian Vitters lined the first pitch he saw to right for a two-run double. Moresi followed with a two-run single to left on a 1-0 pitch.

The question now for the UH coaches is whether to keep Wright in a starter's role or put him back in the bullpen.

"We're going to have to take a look at things. Steven is lights out coming out of the pen, but struggles early when he starts. The thing is, pitching sets the tone of the game," said UH coach Mike Trapasso.

Ricky Bauer replaced Wright to start the sixth inning and allowed one hit in three innings.

Only two of the UH hits were from the first six spots in the batting order. Three were by Magana in the No. 9 hole and the other two were by Roberts, who replaced Luis Avila in the seventh inning.

"I'm proud of Roberts for getting two hits and Magana for getting three, but we need to get some spark," said Trapasso. "We need a starter to come out and give us eight innings of shutout ball."

The Rainbows have lost six of their last seven games since sweeping Florida State.

Two right-handers square off tonight. Stephen Bryant (4-0) goes for UH and Michael Cooper (2-1) for FSU.

Note: Freshman outfielder Ryan Asato stayed in Hawaii when the Rainbows started the road trip, but flew to Fresno to join the team yesterday after junior outfielder Jose Castaneda was sent home for disciplinary reasons.

Fresno State 6, Hawaii 3

Hawaii	AB	R	H	BI	Fresno State	AB	R	H	BI
Spiers ss	5	0	0	0	Miller 2b	2	2	0	0
Ammon c/lf	4	0	1	2	Vitters ss	4	1	1	2
Inouye cf	4	0	0	0	Moresi cf	4	0	4	3
Omura 2b	4	1	1	0	Mills 3b	4	0	1	0
Russo dh	3	0	0	0	Gomez dh	4	1	1	0
Kish rf	3	0	0	0	Moore rf	4	1	1	0
Lopez c	1	0	0	0	Susdorf lf	4	0	1	0
Avila 1b	2	0	0	0	Overland c	3	1	1	1
Roberts 1b	2	1	2	1	Fister 1b	3	0	0	0
Piaskowski lf	2	0	0	0
Asato ph/rf	2	0	0	0
Magana 3b	4	1	3	0
Totals	36	3	7	3	Totals	32	6	10	6

Hawaii	000	000	210	--	3	7	2
Fresno State	141	000	00X	--	6	10	3

E--Ammon; Omura; Vitters; Overland; Garza. DP--Hawaii 1, Fresno State 1. LOB--Hawaii 8, Fresno State 5. 2B--Omura; Vitters; Moresi 3. SB--Moresi.

Hawaii	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Wright (L, 3-3)	5	9	6	6	1	4
Bauer	3	1	0	0	1	0
Fresno State	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Garza (W, 2-3)	7	4	2	2	2	11
Miller	1	2	1	1	0	0
Penn (S, 1)	1	1	0	0	0	1

WP--Garza. HBP--by Wright (Miller). PB--Overland
Umpires--Danny Mascarro (plate), Dick Flaherty (first), Mark Beller (third).
T--2:28. A--1,945.