RAINBOW BASEBALL
Rainbows complete sweep of Bulldogs
RUSTON, La. » The Hawaii Rainbows never quit in yesterday's second game, rallying from a 6-2 deficit to edge Louisiana Tech 7-6 and sweep the four-game Western Athletic Conference series from the Bulldogs at J.C. Love Field.
In the first game, the 'Bows made just enough use of their 14 hits to score single runs in five different innings for a 5-3 victory behind the pitching of Ian Harrington and Darrell Fisherbaugh.
The last time Hawaii swept a four-game, conference series on the mainland was at Wyoming in 1989.
The Rainbows (37-12 overall, 14-6 WAC) have won 13 of their last 14 games. They return home today with an eight-game winning streak, their longest of the season.
Matt Inouye provided the spark in the ninth inning of the nightcap with flat-out hustle and the score at 6-6. He turned a bouncing ball over third base into a leadoff double.
Inouye moved to third on a grounder to second off the bat of Esteban Lopez and scored the game-winning run when Eli Christensen doubled down the right-field line.
"Flying home is going to be pretty fun. This was a team effort the entire weekend. We had outstanding pitching from our starters for three games and even Mark (Rodrigues, the starter in game four) had some tough luck," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.
Luis Avila started the comeback with a solo home run, his seventh of the season, to start the sixth inning. The 'Bows closed to 6-5 with two runs in the seventh. Jon Hee and Robbie Wilder singled and Derek DuPree was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.
Justin Frash hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Hee. Avila singled to center, reloading the bases. That was enough for LaTech coach Wade Simoneaux, who replaced starter Matt Lacy with Andrew Alsup
Inouye, who was 5-for-9 in the doubleheader, bounced a 1-1 pitch to short. The Bulldogs (28-22, 9-12) got the force at second, but Inouye beat the relay to first, allowing Wilder to score.
Hawaii tied the score in the eighth. Kris Sanchez fell behind 0-2 on the count, but kept fouling off pitches and finally walked on a 3-2 pitch. Joe Spiers pinch-ran, stole second and scored on Hee's ground single down the right-field line.
"Our offense was outstanding all four games. Our hitters were locked in," Trapasso said.
The Rainbows were 50-for-147 (.340) in the series, while the pitching staff held the Bulldogs to 35-for-132 (.265).
Another key for UH was the bullpen. Tyler Davis took over for Rodrigues in the fourth, gave up LaTech's sixth run on a sacrifice fly, then pitched three scoreless innings.
Matt Daly handled the final two innings, striking out three of the last four batters. The freshman right-hander won his sixth game against no losses.
In the opener, the Bulldogs took a quick lead when Jericho Jones belted a two-run homer off UH starter Harrington in the first.
Harrington then settled into a groove and retired 17 of the next 18 batters before giving up two hits to start the seventh and the final LaTech run on a sacrifice fly.
With two down in the eighth and a runner on first, Fisherbaugh replaced Harrington and got Jones on a liner to short to end the inning.
Ryan Hamilton singled and took second on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth, but Fisherbaugh retired the final two batters on ground balls to short to earn his WAC-leading ninth save.
"I actually thought Ian was better today than last weekend. His pitches and his location were better," Trapasso said. "He really stayed within himself and pitched well. I thought he made just two bad pitches in the entire game."
Hawaii broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth when Lopez doubled to right, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Christensen and scored on DuPree's sacrifice fly to center field.
The 'Bows picked up an insurance run in the ninth when Frash doubled, took third on a groundout and scored when Inouye beat out an infield single to third.
"It was a strange game. We got a lot of hits, but I didn't think we were blowing our opportunities. We were swinging the bats well, but not getting the right kind of hits," Trapasso said.
Game 1
Hawaii 5, Louisiana Tech 3
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
LaTech |
AB |
R |
H |
BI
|
Wilder lf |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Cobb cf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Spiers dh |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Lacy ss |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0
|
Frash 3b |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Jones rf |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2
|
Avila 1b |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Hudson dhp |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0
|
Inouye rf |
4 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
Hamilton 3b |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
Lopez c |
5 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
Ramon 2b |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Christensen ss |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Rike lf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
DuPree cf |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Bascle 1b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Hee 2b |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Boyce c |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Totals |
36 |
5 |
14 |
5 |
Totals |
33 |
3 |
7 |
3 |
Hawaii |
|
|
|
011 |
101 |
001 |
-- |
5 |
14 |
1
|
Louisiana Tech |
|
200 |
000 |
100 |
-- |
3 |
7 |
2 |
E--Hee; Boyce. LOB--Hawaii 10; LaTech 4. 2B--Wilder; Frash; Avila; Lopez; Hamilton. HR--Jones. SH--Christensen. SF--Avila; DuPree; Rike. SB--Spiers. CS--Inouye.
Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Harrington (W, 6-3) |
7 2/3 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
4
|
Fisherbaugh (S, 9) |
1 1/3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Louisiana Tech |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Braud (L, 2-1) |
4 2/3 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1
|
Hudson |
4 1/3 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
WP--Fisherbaugh.
Umpires--information not available.
T--2:12. A--N/A.
Game 2
Hawaii 7, Louisiana Tech 6
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
LaTech |
AB |
R |
H |
BI
|
Wilder lf |
5 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
Cobb cf |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0
|
DuPree cf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Ramon 2b |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Frash 3b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Jones rf |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2
|
Avila 1b |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Hudson lf |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Inouye rf |
5 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
Hamilton 3b |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2
|
Lopez c |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Goulder 1b |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Christensen ss |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
Lacy p |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Sanchez dh |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Bascle prdh |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Spiers prdh |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Rike dh |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Hee 2b |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
McCarthy ss |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
Boyce c |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0
|
Totals |
40 |
7 |
15 |
7 |
Totals |
33 |
6 |
12 |
6 |
Hawaii |
|
|
|
020 |
001 |
211 |
-- |
7 |
15 |
1
|
Louisiana Tech |
|
103 |
200 |
000 |
-- |
6 |
12 |
1 |
E--Lopez; Hamilton. DP--LaTech 1. LOB--Hawaii 11; LaTech 7. 2B--Inouye 2; Christensen; Sanchez; Cobb. HR--Avila; Hamilton. SH--Ramon 2. SF--Frash; Ramon. SB--Inouye; Spiers. CS--Cobb; McCarthy.
Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Rodrigues |
3 1/3 |
8 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
2
|
Davis |
3 2/3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2
|
Daly (W, 6-0) |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4
|
Louisiana Tech |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Lacy |
6 1/3 |
11 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
6
|
Alsup (L, 3-1) |
2 2/3 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
WP--Davis. HBP--by Rodrigues (Hamilton); by Davis (Boyce); by Lacy (DuPree).
Umpires--information not available.
T--2:52. A--625.
WAC standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Hawaii |
14 |
6 |
.700 |
-- |
37 |
12
|
Fresno State |
11 |
6 |
.647 |
1 1/2 |
32 |
16
|
San Jose State |
11 |
6 |
.647 |
1 1/2 |
32 |
18
|
Louisiana Tech |
9 |
12 |
.429 |
5 1/2 |
28 |
22
|
Sacramento State |
8 |
10 |
.444 |
4 |
20 |
27
|
Nevada |
5 |
11 |
.313 |
7 |
17 |
25
|
New Mexico State |
5 |
12 |
.294 |
7 1/2 |
18 |
30 |
Yesterday
Hawaii 5, Louisiana Tech 3 (first game)
Hawaii 7, Louisiana Tech 6 (second game)
San Jose State 22, New Mexico State 3
Fresno State 19, Nevada 3
Today
New Mexico State at San Jose State
Nevada at Fresno State