Dirtbags deal Rainbows fifth consecutive loss
STORY SUMMARY »
Devin Lohman's two-run triple in the first inning wound up being the difference as Long Beach State handed Hawaii its fifth straight loss with a 4-2 victory last night at Les Murakami Stadium.
Robert Burk led off the game with a home run for the Dirtbags (8-2), who got an excellent start from junior Vance Worley.
Worley struck out a career-high 11 batters in eight innings and allowed six hits and two runs in picking up the win.
Hawaii senior Nicholas Rhodes put together the best performance of his career in his first start of the season. Rhodes overcame a tough first inning to go the distance, allowing four runs on 10 hits while striking out a career-high nine on 119 pitches.
Jon Hee drove in both of Hawaii's runs on singles in the third and eighth inning.
The Dirtbags look to complete a three-game sweep today at 1:05 p.m.
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RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Gregg Garcia couldn't put the tag on a sliding Danny Espinosa of Long Beach State at second base during the second inning of last night's game at Les Murakami Stadium.
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Long Beach State's deep and talented pitching rotation continued its mastery of the Rainbows offense.
Junior Vance Worley became the latest Dirtbags starter to post career numbers against Hawaii. He struck out a career-high 11 batters in eight innings as No. 10 LBSU won its sixth game in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Rainbows yesterday in front of a season-high 2,521 in attendance at Les Murakami Stadium.
"He was as good as we've seen in awhile -- even in the last couple of years," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said of Worley. "He basically had us overmatched for the entire game. He was that good tonight."
The 6-foot-2 righty allowed six hits and two runs while not allowing a walk or a hit batter. He improved to 2-0 for the season while handing Hawaii (5-8) its fifth straight loss.
"(Worley) was just commanding his fastball in and out and keeping hitters of balance," starting catcher Kip Masuda said. "He was just working off that."
Masuda, a Mid-Pacific graduate, went 1-for-4 in his fifth start of the season.
Last night was his first game at Les Murakami Stadium since playing for the Owls in the state tournament.
"I was a little overanxious I'd say, but I had to calm myself down and just try to hit," Masuda said.
"It has been awhile since I got a hit so it was nice."
Rainbows starter Nicholas Rhodes shook off a rough first inning to produce the best performance of his Hawaii career. He set a career high with nine strikeouts and pitched all nine innings as he kept his team in the game.
"My arm started loosening up from the fifth on," Rhodes sad. "I made a couple mistakes early on, but once I got into that groove I was able to throw all my pitches."
Worley had retired 10 batters in a row and took a 4-1 lead into the eighth where the Rainbows mounted a rally. Kevin Macdonald squeaked out an infield single to start the inning and Ryan Asato followed with a base-hit up the middle. After a failed bunt attempt by Greg Garcia resulted in a pop out, Jon Hee singled to left center to drive in pinch-runner Ryan Morford to make it 4-2. Asato took third on an error by the left fielder, but was stranded there as Sean Montplaisir fouled out to third and Brandon Haislet struck out swinging.
Robert Burk wasted no time giving the Dirtbags the lead early. The junior took the fourth pitch of the game from Rhodes deep over the left-field fence for a solo homer. Devin Lohman added a two-run triple that bounced over the head of Rainbows right-fielder Jeff Van Doornum to give the Long Beach State a 3-0 lead.
"With the way Worley was throwing I thought it was going to have to be 1-0 for us to win it," Trapasso said. "We already gave up a three spot to start so I was thinking we were in trouble."
The Dirtbags took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the third when the Rainbows used a little two-out magic to get on the board.
Garcia recorded Hawaii's first hit with a single up the middle. Garcia stole second during a 10-pitch at-bat by Hee, who eventually singled through the left side to score Garcia to make it 4-1.
Hawaii will try to stop its losing streak and avoid a sweep when the two teams close out the series today. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05.
Long Beach St. 4, Hawaii 2
LBSU |
ab |
r |
h |
bi |
Hawaii |
ab |
r |
h |
bi
|
Burk dh |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Hee 2b |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2
|
Mittelstaedt cf/lf |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Montplaisir lf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Epinosa ss |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Catricala 3b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Peterson 1b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
V. Doornum rf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Krick 3b |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Hernandez c |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Lohman 2b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
Macdonald 1b |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Tweedy 2b |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Morford pr |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Corder rf |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Myers 1b |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Tinoco lf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Asato dh |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Nelson cf |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Garcia ss |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0
|
Masuda c |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Totals |
36 |
4 |
10 |
4 |
Totals |
33 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
LBSU |
301 |
000 |
000 |
-- |
4 |
10 |
1
|
Hawaii |
001 |
000 |
010 |
-- |
2 |
6 |
0 |
E--Tinoco. LOB--LBSU 8, Hawaii 5. 2B--Mittelstaedt; Corder. 3B--Lohman. HR--Burk. SF--Krick. SB--Epinosa; Garcia.
LBSU |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Worley (W, 2-0) |
8 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
11
|
Vincent (S, 1) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Rhodes (L, 0-1) |
9 |
10 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
HBP--by Rhodes (Krick).
Umpires--Pat Riley (Plate); Jeff Peterson (First); Joe Burlseon (Third).
T--2:28. A--3,565.