Hawaii clobbers Air Force in finale
POSTED: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Hawaii baseball team gave its fans one last treat before hitting the road.
The Rainbows put on an offensive show with a season-high 20 hits in a 13-1 win over Air Force last night in front of a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,216.
Jeff Van Doornum had a career-high four hits and David Freitas went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run as Hawaii (11-9) finished off a sweep of the Falcons (5-16) in a big way.
“;Hopefully this will give us a little momentum going on the road,”; Van Doornum said. “;We did well overall as far as getting the job done.”;
The win wraps up a 20-game homestand to start the season that included No. 17 Oregon State (14-3), The Citadel (14-5) and Oregon (16-6), which completed a four-game sweep of Western Athletic Conference member Nevada on Sunday.
The Rainbows recorded their first four-game sweep since hosting Loyola Marymount a little more than a year ago.
In an up-and-down first month, Hawaii notched three winning streaks of at least three games, including its current four-game streak, and two stretches of three consecutive losses.
“;You've got to win the games you're supposed to win, and we did that,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;It's a good homestand overall. A couple of the series we really played well.”;
Not lost in the offensive explosion last night is the pitching of sophomore Matt Sisto, who strung together seven innings of one-run ball to pick up the win. Sisto (2-3) allowed three hits and struck out a career-high eight in his longest outing of the season.
“;This could be a big day for us because of the way he threw,”; Trapasso said. “;He didn't just throw well, he pitched really well.”;
Sisto retired 11 in a row at one point, giving his offense plenty of time to pile on the runs.
“;I was able to get down in the zone,”; Sisto said. “;(Scoring) nine (runs) in the first inning allowed me to get comfortable and work on the things I've been working on.”;
UH made quick work of Air Force starter Michael Ruvolo (0-2), who allowed nine runs in 12/3 innings.
Kolten Wong, who finished 3-for-4, hit a two-run double in the first and Collin Bennett added an RBI triple as Hawaii took a 4-1 lead.
Freitas' three-run home run highlighted a five-spot in the second inning. Four different Rainbows scored at least twice, including Bennett, who finished 2-for-3 with three runs.
Redshirt freshman Russell Doi, a Mid-Pacific graduate, collected the first hit of his career, ripping a double down the right-field line in the seventh. Chase Koissian also got his first hit as a Rainbow, doubling down the left-field line in the eighth.
Connor Little and Trent Allianic pitched a scoreless inning of relief each to finish off the win.
Hawaii leaves today as it prepares for its first road trip beginning tomorrow at Long Beach State.
Zach Gallagher (0-1, 6.75) is expected to start against the Dirtbags (9-9).
Josh Slaats (2-0, 0.40) will start the first game and Sam Spangler (2-3, 3.67) the second of a three-game series at Cal State Fullerton that starts Friday.
The Rainbows wrap up the trip with a single game on Monday at San Diego.
Slaats wins second WAC honor
Junior Josh Slaats was named the Western Athletic Conference pitcher of the week for the second time in three weeks yesterday.
Slaats (2-0) struck out a career-high 10 in 51/3 innings on Saturday in a 4-0 victory over Air Force.
He lowered his ERA to 0.40. In 222/3 innings, he's allowed one earned run and recorded 26 strikeouts to six walks.
HAWAII 13, AIR FORCE 1
| Air Force | AB | R | H | BI | Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | |
| Roberts, B. 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Roquemore rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Custons c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Montplaisir ph/rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lane ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Garcia ss | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Gentry 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Moore ss | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Alexander 1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wong 2b | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| Bast lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Doi 2b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Kessler ph/lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Freitas c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Hill dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fujii c | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Ausbun rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Croce c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Randhawa 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Bennett cf | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Bramble cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Almadova cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Carter cf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Roberts ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Brown ph/1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Van Doornum dh | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Kitamura 3b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||||||
| Chevalier ph/3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Brackenridge lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Koissian ph/lf | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 29 | 1 | 4 | 1 | Totals | 42 | 13 | 20 | 12 |
| Air Force | 100 | 000 | 000 | - | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Hawaii | 450 | 300 | 10x | - | 13 | 20 | 0 |
E-Air Force 2 (Roberts, B.; Radhawa). DP-Hawaii 1. LOB-Air Force 3; Hawaii 10. 2B-Gentry; Roberts, M.; Garcia; Wong; Doi; Van Doornum; Koissian. 3B-Bennett. HR-Freitas. SH-Custons. SF-Almadova.
| Air Force | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Ruvolo | 12/3 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Abrecht | 42/3 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Bertelson | 12/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sisto | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Little | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Allianic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
HBP-by Bertelson (Montplaisir).
Umpires - Heath Jones (Plate); Dave Yeast (First); Billy Haze (Third).
T-2:29. A-1,216.
