RAINBOW BASEBALL
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Evan Zimny was picked off first by San Jose State's Sonny Garza in the 'Bows' 9-1 loss.
|
|
Spartans humble ’Bows
Hawaii's run of solid outings on the mound finally ended last night, while San Jose State got a sparkling effort from a first-time starter.
The Rainbow pitching staff had gone more than a month without giving up more than five runs in a game, but that 16-game streak ended with a 9-1 loss to the Spartans in the opener of a Western Athletic Conference series at Les Murakami Stadium.
UH starter Ian Harrington (4-5) lasted just two innings before being lifted in the third with UH already trailing 4-0. San Jose State's run total was the most surrendered by the Rainbows since a 10-4 loss to Wichita State on Feb. 25.
"You just have to flush it and forget it and you have to keep your heads up," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "There's no pouting or feeling sorry for yourself.
"When you play 56 games you're going to have a night where nothing goes right for you. It was one of those nights where everything they did was perfect and everything we did was terrible. It was just a very thorough butt-kicking -- they were better than us tonight."
While the Rainbows (21-10, 2-2 WAC) struggled, SJSU starter Scott Sobczak (3-1) turned in a complete-game performance before a crowd of 1,871.
Sobczak had been more familiar with finishing games as the WAC leader in saves entering the day. But the sophomore right-hander, who had been pitching his way into shape in his 13 appearances this season, scattered six hits and retired 12 straight from the fifth through the eighth innings in his first career start.
UH scored in the bottom of the ninth on Derek DuPree's RBI single to drive in Kevin Macdonald, who doubled to open the inning, to avoid being shut out for the first time since Feb. 11, 2006.
"The biggest thing was throwing strikes, I wanted to get strike one all the time and that's what I was able to do," Sobczak said. "Trying to locate the offspeed also was big and not giving them anything free."
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii second baseman Kevin Macdonald turned two as SJSU's Ryan Angel slid into second.
|
|
Hawaii left-hander Mark Rodrigues (6-1) will try to get the Rainbows back on track when the series continues today at 6:35 p.m. Right-hander Spencer Snodgrass (2-2) is scheduled to throw for the Spartans (17-11, 2-2).
"Things went our way tonight," SJSU coach Sam Piraro said. "We're not sitting here thinking we're eight runs better than Hawaii -- we're smarter than that. We understand they didn't play as well as they're capable of playing. We'll just show up tomorrow and hope we can get a pitching performance like that and get a few timely hits."
Mililani graduate Chris Balatico had a productive night in the leadoff spot for San Jose State. The senior went 2-for-5 with an RBI double in the fourth inning.
"We have to come out and stay intense the same way we did today," Balatico said.
Harrington struggled with his command in giving up five runs on four hits, walking three and hitting a batter in his shortest outing since going 1 1/3 in a loss to Georgia Southern on Feb. 1.
Balatico singled to left to lead off the game, and Harrington later issued walks to Ryan Angel and Marcus McKimmey to load the bases with two out. Chase dropped a fly ball just inside the right-field line to clear the bases.
Harrington ran into trouble again in the third when he gave up a single and hit a batter to open the inning. McKimmey then drilled a single to center to score Angel, and Trapasso went to the mound for the second time in the inning to lift Harrington. Jayson Kramer got Chase to ground into a double play, but Donato Giovanatto scored on the play to push the SJSU lead to 5-0.
Balatico added to the lead in the fourth when his fly ball to left glanced off the glove of Derek DuPree and fell in for an RBI double. He was then thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
Hawaii dug itself deeper into the hole in the sixth as three errors contributed to another Spartan run and SJSU added single runs in the eighth and ninth.
Also enduring "one of those nights" was UH center fielder Brandon Haislet, who saw a 10-game hitting streak end despite making solid contact in all three of his at-bats.
"We got off more good swings today than we did in the last three or four games combined, and really hit some balls hard," Trapasso said. "It just wasn't our night."
San Jose State 9, Hawaii 1
San Jose St. |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI
|
Balatico lf |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Hee 2b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Klauer 3b |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Macdonald 2b |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0
|
Hasegawa ss |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
DuPree lf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Angel cf |
4 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
Frash 3b |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Giovanatto rf |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Franco ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
McKimmey 2b |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
Haislet cf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Chase dh |
5 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
Roquemore cf |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Garza 1b |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
Sanchez 1b |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
Bellows ss/3b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Zimny rf |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Santich-Hughes c |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Catricala dh |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asato ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hernandez c |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
Christensen ss |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
Young ph/ss |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
35 |
9 |
10 |
6 |
Totals |
31 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
San Jose State |
|
302 |
101 |
011 |
-- |
9 |
10 |
0
|
Hawaii |
|
|
000 |
000 |
001 |
-- |
1 |
6 |
4 |
E--Frash; Christensen 2; Rhodes. DP--San Jose State 1, Hawaii 3. LOB--San Jose State 6, Hawaii 3. 2B--Balatico; Chase; Macdonald; Frash. HBP--Klauer. SH--Santich-Hughes. SB--Angel; Giovanatto 2; Garza.
Fresno State |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Sobczak (W, 3-1) |
9 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
6
|
Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Harrington (L, 4-5) |
2 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
0
|
Kramer |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1
|
Rhodes |
4 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
HBP--by Harrington (Giovanatto); by Kramer (Bellows); by Rhodes (Klauer); BK--Rhodes.
Umpires--James Garman (plate), Chad McCardell (first), Ray Leible (third).
T--2:29. A--1,871.
WAC Standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Sacramento State |
4 |
3 |
.571 |
-- |
9 |
18
|
Louisiana Tech |
3 |
3 |
.500 |
1/2 |
20 |
14
|
Hawaii |
2 |
2 |
.500 |
1/2 |
21 |
10
|
San Jose State |
2 |
2 |
.500 |
1/2 |
17 |
11
|
Nevada |
2 |
2 |
.500 |
1/2 |
17 |
14
|
Fresno State |
2 |
2 |
.500 |
1/2 |
14 |
17
|
New Mexico State |
3 |
4 |
.429 |
1 |
14 |
16 |
Yesterday
San Jose State 9, Hawaii 1
Fresno State 16, Sacramento State 7
Nevada 15, New Mexico State 0
Louisiana Tech 7, Dallas Baptist 2
Today
San Jose State at Hawaii, 6:30 p.m.
Sacramento State at Fresno State
Dallas Baptist at Louisiana Tech
Nevada at New Mexico State
Tomorrow
San Jose State at Hawaii, 1 p.m.
Nevada at New Mexico State
Sacramento State at Fresno State