Catricala continues productive pace as Rainbows roll

Third baseman drives in three more runs as UH wins 20th game

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RUSTON, La. » As much of a struggle it's been for Vinnie Catricala at the plate this season, he continues to hit well with men in scoring position.

Hawaii    LaTech 13 7 NEXT UP at LaTech today

Hawaii's leading RBI man drove in three more runs yesterday and Sean Montplaisir hit his first homer of the season as Hawaii defeated Louisiana Tech 13-7 at J.C. Love Field.

Landon Hernandez added three RBIs and Brandon Haislet scored three times as the Rainbows took advantage of 14 hits and seven walks to put up 13 runs.

The win was key in the WAC standings for Hawaii (20-22, 12-9), which moved into sole possession of third place and is now just a half-game back of Sacramento State for second.

Hawaii starter Jared Alexander picked up his sixth win of the season despite having one of his worst outings.

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RUSTON, La. » A home run from the unlikeliest of sources helped the Rainbow baseball team continue its April dominance.

Freshman Sean Montplaisir hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot in the eighth, to stop Louisiana Tech's comeback in a 13-7 victory in the opener of a four-game series yesterday at J.C. Love Field.

Vinnie Catricala finished a homer short of the cycle and drove in three runs and Landon Hernandez also had three RBIs as Hawaii never trailed in the game after scoring five runs in the first inning.

"It wasn't pretty, but we were good offensively," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "Jumping out of the gate with a five-spot was huge."

The Rainbows (20-22, 12-9 WAC) improved to 11-3 in April by handing Louisiana Tech (16-23, 2-17) its 12th loss in its last 13 games.

Rainbows starter Jared Alexander improved to 6-3 for the season, but gave up season highs of 13 hits and seven runs in 6 2/3 innings.

A three-run double by Catricala gave the Rainbows an 11-1 lead in the sixth and put them in position to win their second game of the season via the 10-run mercy rule.

But Alexander was tagged for three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings as the Bulldogs pulled to within four before the 5-foot-10 Montplaisir's at-bat in the eighth. Catricala was on third after a lead-off double when Montplaisir hit a line-drive, two-run homer to right field to stop the Bulldogs' run and push the 'Bows back up by six.

"They made him look bad on a slider the pitch before and tried to sneak an 0-2 fastball by him," Trapasso said. "Monty hit it good."

Hawaii took advantage of four walks by Bulldogs starter Luke Burnett (0-4), who didn't make it out of the first inning, to score five runs on only two hits in the opening frame. Burnett walked Greg Garcia to force in a run and was chased after getting only two outs. Hernandez greeted reliever Jamey Bradshaw with a two-run single to cap the inning, as Garcia was thrown out trying to score from first.

Alexander had allowed only one run through five innings before being picked apart for seven hits and six runs over the next 1 2/3 innings. Clay Alexander's two-run homer to left in the seventh chased the Rainbows starter with two outs.

"Jared got gassed when he got around 80 pitches, but for the most part, he's good to give you 100 pitches and 100 good ones at that," Trapasso said. "He was tired and our whole team played tired really after that fifth inning."

Cory Kahn came on in relief with the bases empty and retired seven in a row to end the game.

The Rainbows had Jayson Kramer playing catch in the eight, but Montplaisir's home run kept Hawaii's closer rested heading into today's doubleheader, beginning at 8 a.m.

Senior Nick Rhodes will take the mound in the opener for Hawaii. Alex Bates gets the start in Game 2.