FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Darrell Fisherbaugh took over in the seventh inning and finished the game.

Series goes
Rainbows’ way

Hawaii defeats San Jose State for
the second straight time to win the
three-game home series

Hawaii won its first Western Athletic Conference series of the season yesterday by edging San Jose State in the deciding contest of the three-game showdown at Les Murakami Stadium.

HAWAII    3 SJSU 2 NEXT UP at San Francisco, Wednesday

The 3-2 victory before 1,022 fans came in a battle between teams that kept creating opportunities to take command of the game but could not produce the knockout punch.

"Just about every inning both teams were playing with fire," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "I told the players again before the game that it won't be easy because this is the rubber game, but let's go out and get it done."

The Rainbows (15-17, 3-6 WAC), despite leaving 11 men on base yesterday, did it by defeating the Spartans' two best pitchers in the final two games of the series.

Left-hander Brad Kilby, the WAC Pitcher of the Week last week, was not especially sharp, allowing six hits and walking four yesterday, but made enough decent pitches to strand six 'Bows. He left after five innings with a 2-0 deficit.

UH starter Justin Costi had a similar experience in his 5 2/3 innings. The Spartans (16-11-1, 6-3), who had the leadoff batter on base in each of the first four innings, did not manage a run despite getting a runner into scoring position each time.

"Justin just kept making good pitches," Trapasso said.

The 'Bows put their first run on the board in the second after loading the bases.

Joe Spiers' run-scoring liner to right brought home Matt Inouye, who reached base by beating out a slow bouncer to third for an infield single. Greg Kish left the sacks full when Kilby got him to foul out to first baseman Brandon Fromm.

Hawaii took a 2-0 lead in the fifth when Rocky Russo supplied a run-scoring, two-out double that short-hopped the left-field wall to score Spiers.

The Spartans broke through in the sixth when Nate Corrick singled off Costi and took third on Chris Williammee's double down the left-field line.

Costi almost escaped unscathed when he induced Fromm and Travis Becktel to hit bouncers back to the mound for the first two outs of the inning, but Daniel Fitch lined a two-run single to center to tie the score.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Joe Spiers slid under a throw to San Jose State shortstop Anthony Contreras at second base in yesterday's game.

The 'Bows broke the tie in the seventh when Kish led off with a single up the middle and scored on Isaac Omura's opposite-field double just inside the left-field foul line.

"It was a hit-and-run and I had to put the ball in play," said Omura. "He (SJSU pitcher Daniel Crombie) left the ball up and I was fortunate to get the job done.

"This is a big boost for us after some tough games. We didn't get many runs, but we got the job done."

Sophomore right-hander Darrell Fisherbaugh got the win, his second of the season, with 2 1/3 innings of two-hit relief. But his time on the mound turned alarming in the ninth inning after he retired the first two Spartans.

The Spartans, who left 13 men on base, got Anthony Contreras into scoring position when he drilled a two-strike pitch into the right-field corner for a double.

"It was a terrible pitch, a fastball right down the middle. I was trying to put it in the dirt," said Fisherbaugh.

He then walked Corrick on four pitches, bringing Trapasso out for a visit.

"He asked me if I was all right because my arm was lagging behind my body and my ball was up in the zone," Fisherbaugh said.

Trapasso said, "Darrell tends to drift and feel sorry for himself at times. I wanted him to catch his breath and stay aggressive."

Fisherbaugh then walked Williammee, filling the bases.

"Scary," said Fisherbaugh. "Once the bases were loaded, I didn't have to worry about the runners and could concentrate on getting the batter out."

Fromm bounced a one-strike pitch to Omura at second for an easy play to first and the final out.

WAC standings

	Conference				Overall
	W	L	Pct.	GB	W	L
San Jose State*	6	3	.667	--	16	11
Nevada	4	2	.667	1	15	10
Fresno State	4	2	.667	1	18	17
Rice	4	5	.444	2	21	10
Louisiana Tech	3	6	.333	3	11	20
Hawaii	3	6	.333	3	15	17

* -- San Jose State has one nonconference tie

Yesterday
Hawaii 3, San Jose State 2
Fresno State 2, Rice 1

Hawaii 3, San Jose State 2

SJSU	AB	R	H	BI	Hawaii	AB	R	H	BI
Pierson 2b	4	0	1	0	Spiers ss	4	1	3	1
Angel lf	3	0	0	0	Kish rf	4	1	1	0
Contreras ss	5	0	2	0	Omura 2b	3	0	2	1
Corrick rf	3	1	1	0	Russo dh	4	0	2	1
Williammee dh	3	1	2	0	Inouye cf	3	1	1	0
Promm 1b	5	0	0	0	Thurber lf	3	0	1	0
Becktel cf	4	0	1	0	ÊDupree lf	0	0	0	0
Fitch c	4	0	1	2	Magana 3b	2	0	0	0
ÊPeterson pr	0	0	0	0	Avila 1b	3	0	0	0
ÊSntch-Hghs c	0	0	0	0	Lopez c	3	0	0	0
Epidendio 3b	3	0	1	0
Totals	34	2	9	2	Totals	29	3	10	3
San Jose State	000	002	000	--	2	9	0
Hawaii	010	010	10x	--	3	10	1

E--Avila. DP--SJSU 2. LOB--SJSU 13, Hawaii 11. 2B--Contreras; Williammee 2; Omura 2; Russo; Thurber. SH--Angel; Corrick; Kish; Magana 2. SB--Spiers. CS--Peterson.

SJSU	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Kilby	5	6	2	2	4	3
Crombie (L, 1-2)	1 1/3	3	1	1	1	0
Jones	1 2/3	1	0	0	1	1
Hawaii	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Costi	5 2/3	6	2	2	1	3
Olsen	1	1	0	0	1	0
Fisherbaugh (W, 2-1)	2 1/3	2	0	0	2	0

HBP--by Costi (Angel); by Costi (Williammee). PB--Fitch.
Umpires--Danny Mascarro (plate), Ken Eldridge (first), David Rogers (third).
T--2:41. A--1,022.