RAINBOW BASEBALL
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii pitcher Jayson Kramer delivered a pitch against Mike Economos of Georgia Southern. Economos drove in five runs.
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Eagles outslug Rainbows
Mike Economos goes 5-for-5 and Georgia Southern lights up Hawaii ace Ian Harrington
After going 5-for-5 with a homer and two doubles, five RBIs and five runs, Mike Economos said it was his best game as a baseball player, at least going back to include high school.
Next Up vs. Georgia Southern tonight
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"I don't know about Little League, I can't remember that far back," the Georgia Southern right fielder said.
That was fitting, since GSU's season-opening 13-11 victory over Hawaii last night often looked a lot like a lower level of baseball.
UH coach Mike Trapasso certainly wasn't pleased with his team's five errors, leading to three unearned runs.
Hawaii fell to 2-2 as most of the 757 at Les Murakami Stadium left dejected and Trapasso got himself ejected.
"You shouldn't make that many errors in a first-time scrimmage, practice, a game in the fall," Trapasso said. "We made more like eight errors. Even the official scorer had a bad night."
That was probably an exaggeration, but the Rainbows were also let down by their pitching in general and No. 1 starter Ian Harrington in particular. UH was outhit 16-12, and Harrington lasted just 1 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs.
"We had no intensity on the mound to start out with," Trapasso said.
Harrington (1-1) offered no excuses.
"Sometimes you just can't say much about it and just have to tip your cap to the other team," he said. "I felt like I had my stuff and they just got me. I felt like I was putting it where I needed to and they just got to me."
Justin Frash went 3-for-4 with a walk for the Rainbows.
Hawaii scored two in the ninth and put the tying run on, but Matt Roquemore struck out looking to end it.
UH loaded the bases with none out off Eagles reliever Kyle Kamppi, as Frash and Brandon Haislet walked and Kris Sanchez singled.
Eli Christensen then lined out softly to Jeremy Beckham at second and Evan Zimny struck out swinging.
Kamppi then walked Landon Hernandez to score Frash, and put the potential winning run at the plate in Roquemore. Kamppi threw a wild pitch to score Haislet, but on the next pitch struck out Roquemore.
"(Kamppi) struggled, but he pitched so well in the fall and in practice for us that he was our guy and if we were going to lose the game we were going to lose it with him," GSU coach Rodney Hennon said.
"Our kids didn't give in and their kids didn't give in one bit. They battled down to the end."
Clean-up batter Economos drove in four runs with two two-run doubles, as UH gave up as many runs in two innings as it did in the entire season-opening series against Santa Clara last week.
After Griffin Benedict's single drove in the seventh run, Jayson Kramer relieved Harrington and got the next two batters out on three pitches to end a three-run second.
Meanwhile, the Rainbows scored four runs, with Frash contributing a run-scoring double in the first and an RBI single in the second.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Justin Frash of Hawaii greeted teammate Brandon Haislet at home plate after both scored last night against Georgia Southern. The two combined to go 5-for-7 with seven runs scored.
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Georgia Southern scratched out a run in the third to make it 8-4. Chris Shehan blooped a single into center, and Brian Pierce's sacrifice bunt went for a single when second baseman Nate Young was slow to cover first.
Eagles starting pitcher Josh Lairsey displayed a strong pickoff move. He was called for a balk after apparently picking off Hernandez in the second, but made a successful move to nab Zimny off first to end the third.
Sloppy Hawaii defense in the fourth allowed two more GSU runs. Economos led off with a single and eventually scored on Kramer's wild pitch. Later in the inning, A.J. Wirnsberger scored on an error by Young.
The Rainbows battled back with four in the fifth.
Charlie Strohecker replaced Lairsey with one out, after a single by Frash and Haislet's double to left were followed by Sanchez's sharp single up the middle, closing the margin to 10-6.
Christensen greeted Strohecker with a bloop single, moving Sanchez to second. Zimny then hit a deep fly to center for the second out, advancing both runners. Hernandez followed with a shot down the third-base line for a two-run double and a 10-8 score.
Strohecker, who was charged with two runs in 2 2/3 innings, got credit for the win.
Economos got one of the runs back when he ripped a 350-foot homer over the second fence in left-center off Kramer in the sixth.
"Being a fifth-year senior, he's the guy who's going to lead this club," Hennon said. "And he's been seeing the ball real well and he's showing the young guys how to do it."
Trapasso was ejected by umpire Mike Evans in the seventh while Trapasso argued a call in which Evans judged that Young was juggling the ball as Pierce ran through first after another bunt.
"It was a good time to try to stir something up," Trapasso said.
The play left runners on first and third with none out, but a double play on a liner to Frash at third by Chris Hollis and Kramer's swinging strike out of Beckham ended the threat.
Hawaii made it 11-9 in the bottom of the seventh. Zimny banged a two-out double off the wall in left-center, scoring Haislet, who led off with a single and stole second.
The Eagles got two in the eighth off UH reliever Tyler Davis, with Matt Miller doubling and eventually scoring on a wild pitch and Economos singling and coming home on Kyle Blackburn's single.
"We were all over the place defensively, not making plays," Trapasso said. "But we scored 11 runs. First and foremost, offensively (Georgia Southern was) outstanding. They hit everything we threw."
The series continues at 6:35 p.m. today with right-hander Drew Murray going for Georgia Southern against UH lefty Mark Rodrigues (1-0, 3.38).
The three-game set concludes tomorrow with a 1:05 p.m. game.
Ga. Southern 13, Hawaii 11
Ga. Southern |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI
|
Hollis, lf |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Franco, lf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Beckham, 2b |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Asato, phlf |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Miller, cf |
5 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
Young, 2b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Economos, rf |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Frash, 3b |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2
|
Richardson, rf |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Haislet, cf |
3 |
4 |
2 |
0
|
Benedict, c |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Sanchez, 1b |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3
|
Parker, 1b |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Christensen, ss |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1
|
Wirnsberger, dh |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Zimny, rf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Blackburn, ph |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Hernandez, c |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3
|
Maxwell, pr |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Fujii, pr |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Shehan, 3b |
5 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
Mcdonald, dh |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Pierce, ss |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Roqmre, phdh |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
41 |
13 |
16 |
10 |
Totals |
38 |
11 |
12 |
10 |
Ga. Southern |
|
431 |
201 |
020 |
-- |
13 |
16 |
2
|
Hawaii |
|
|
|
310 |
040 |
102 |
-- |
11 |
12 |
5 |
E--Shehan; Lairsey; Young 3; Christensen; Hernandez. DP--Hawaii 1. LOB--Ga. Southern 6, Hawaii 7. 2B--Miller 2; Economos 2; Frash; Haislet; Zimny; Hernandez. HR--Economos. SH--Hollis; Pierce. SB--Beckham; Haislet. CS--Young; Zimny.
Ga. Southern |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Lairsey |
4 1/3 |
7 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
4
|
Strohecker (W, 1-0) |
2 2/3 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2
|
Battisto |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Kamppi |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2
|
Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Harrington (L, 1-1) |
1 1/3 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
1
|
Kramer |
5 2/3 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
4
|
Davis |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1
|
Wheeler |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
WP--Lairsey; Kamppi; Kramer; Davis. HBP--by Strohecker (Young); by Davis (Benedict). BK--Lairsey.
T--3:27. A--1,922.