RAINBOW BASEBALL
’Bows hammer away on Bulldogs
Wright is on the mark again as UH wins its fifth straight
RUSTON, La. » Steve Wright won his fourth consecutive road start and the Hawaii Rainbows broke open a close game with a five-run sixth inning in support of the right-hander.
The Rainbows won their fifth consecutive game with the 9-1 Western Athletic Conference victory in the first of four games against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at J.C. Love Field.
Wright scattered six hits and was helped by double plays in the fourth and fifth innings when the 'Bows (34-12, 11-6) were clinging to a 2-0 lead. Other than Brandon Hudson's home run in the seventh inning, Wright was in command during his eight innings.
In his four road games, all victories, the junior has allowed 18 hits in 31 innings and just three earned runs, walked four, fanned 37 and compiled an 0.87 ERA.
It was a home game for UH, a makeup of the March 19 rain out at Les Murakami Stadium. After each team was retired in order in the first inning, there was a 71-minute rain delay.
"We were fortunate the rain came early. If it had come after three or four innings, we probably would have needed to shut Steven down," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso.
With runners at first and second in the eighth and two down, Trapasso considered bringing Tyler Davis in from the bullpen to face Hudson.
"Steven was showing fatigue and Hudson was getting some good swings against him, but Steven said he wanted to finish the inning," Trapasso said.
Wright struck out Hudson on a called third strike after the LaTech (28-19, 9-9) left fielder had fouled off four pitches with a full count.
Hawaii took a 2-0 lead in the third when Jon Hee walked and moved to third on Robbie Wilder's single to right. Wilder stole second and took third as Hee scored on a wild pitch. A fielding error by first baseman Albie Goulder on Luis Avila's routine ground ball allowed Wilder to score.
The 'Bows managed just three hits off Bulldog starter Luke Burnett, but took advantage of two of his five walks to ignite the five-run sixth.
"I was really proud of our offense because Burnett is going to be a superstar. There is something about him that causes our guys to have a hard time seeing the ball. He is tough to get a good swing off and he is only a freshman," Trapasso said.
Burnett walked leadoff batter Matt Inouye and wild-pitched him to second. After striking out Esteban Lopez for his ninth whiff, Burnett walked Joe Spiers on four pitches.
Andrew Alsup replaced Burnett and immediately uncorked a wild pitch to advance the runners. Eli Christensen, who is hitting .358 in WAC games vs. .286 overall, followed with a two-run single to center. He took second on Alsup's second wild pitch and scored on Hee's single up the middle.
Hee continued to second on the throw to the plate, moved to third in Wilder's infield single and scored on Derek DuPree's single to center. Wilder would score on a single to right by Avila.
Christensen's sacrifice fly brought Lopez home in the seventh and Avila doubled off the left-field wall to score Wilder, on base with his third single, in the eighth.
"We're in a park where no lead is safe and we are playing a team that never quits. You have to keep fighting," Trapasso said. "I thought Steven was solid. We have seen him better. He was just very good. He was just Steven tonight."
Davis faced four batters in the ninth to wrap up the 'Bows' 34th victory, their most wins since the 1999 season.
WAC standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Hawaii |
11 |
6 |
.647 |
-- |
34 |
12
|
Fresno State |
9 |
6 |
.600 |
1 |
30 |
16
|
San Jose State |
9 |
6 |
.600 |
1 |
30 |
18
|
Louisiana Tech |
9 |
9 |
.500 |
2 1/2 |
28 |
19
|
Sacramento State |
8 |
10 |
.444 |
3 1/2 |
20 |
27
|
Nevada |
5 |
9 |
.357 |
4 1/2 |
17 |
23
|
New Mexico State |
5 |
10 |
.333 |
5 |
18 |
28 |
Today
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech, 1 p.m.
New Mexico State at San Jose State
Nevada at Fresno State
Tomorrow
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech (1st), 7 a.m.
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech (2nd), 1 p.m.
Hawaii 9, Louisiana Tech 1
LaTech |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI
|
Cobb cf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Wilder lf |
5 |
3 |
3 |
0
|
Jones dh |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
DuPree cf |
5 |
0 |
2 |
1
|
Hudson lf |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Frash 3b |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Goulder 1b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Avila 1b |
5 |
0 |
2 |
2
|
Basole ph |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Inouye rf |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Hamilton 3b |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Lopez c |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Kersten ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Spiers dh |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Ramon 2b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Christensen ss |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3
|
Rike rf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Hee 2b |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1
|
McCarthy ss |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Thomas ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Grunewald ss |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Boyce c |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Winn ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Thomas c |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
32 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
Totals |
33 |
9 |
10 |
7 |
Louisiana Tech |
|
000 |
000 |
100 |
-- |
1 |
7 |
2
|
Hawaii |
|
|
|
002 |
005 |
11x |
-- |
9 |
10 |
1 |
E--Goulder; Hamilton; Christensen. DP--Hawaii 2. LOB--La Tech 6, Hawaii 8. 2B--Avila. HR--Hudson. SF--Christensen. SB--Wilder; Spiers. CS--Hamilton; Frash.
LaTech |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Burnett (L, 3-5) |
5 1/3 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
9
|
Alsup |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0
|
Knotts |
2/3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Tabor |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3
|
Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Wright (W, 9-2) |
8 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
9
|
Davis |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
WP--Burnett 2; Alsup 2. HBP--by Burnett (Lopez); by Tabor (Lopez). PB--Boyce.
Umpires--Kevin Daugherty (plate), Travis Katzenmeier (first), Rich Padilla (third).
T--2:35. A--520.