StarBulletin.com

'Bows reach WAC title game


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POSTED: Saturday, May 29, 2010

MESA, Ariz. >> The driver's seat sure feels mighty comfortable.

Fourth-seeded Hawaii put itself in perfect position to claim its first Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament title in 18 years with an 11-3 victory over four-time defending league champion Fresno State last night at Hohokam Stadium.

Kolten Wong continued his torrid pace, going 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs, and Matt Sisto threw seven innings of two-run ball to move Hawaii into the championship round of the tournament.

The Rainbows (32-25) are the only remaining undefeated team in the double-elimination tournament and will get at least two cracks at clinching a spot in an NCAA regional. The first is tonight at 4:30 p.m. Hawaii time against the winner between Fresno State (36-24) and San Jose State (23-36).

Should the Rainbows lose, they would come back and play the winner again tomorrow at 9 a.m.

“;It's so big for your pitching in particular,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;Winning that game, we don't have to try to win three games. Now, if we don't end up winning, whoever wins it has to win tomorrow and then beat us tomorrow night and on Sunday.”;

Sisto (5-5) did exactly what Josh Slaats and Sam Spangler couldn't do the first two games. He lasted a full seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts. WAC player of the year Jordan Ribera touched him up for a two-run homer in the sixth, but that was all FSU could muster against the sophomore right-hander.

“;It was a big game,”; Sisto said. “;Just dialed it in. Changeup wasn't there tonight, but I had good fastball command, especially on the outer half of the plate tonight and got away with a few changeups.”;

It wasn't good for the Bulldogs whether Sisto was on the mound or not. Sitting in the dugout, Sisto watched the Rainbows offense continue to blister opponents under the desert sun.

Hawaii scored 11 runs on 19 hits and is now hitting .400 (50-for-125) in the tournament. The Rainbows scored in every inning but the seventh, an inning in which they still had four hits. Seven of their nine starters had at least two hits for the second straight game.

               

     

 

 

WAC TOURNAMENT

        YESTERDAY

        Game 6-Nevada 5, New Mexico State 4, NMSU eliminated

        Game 7-San Jose State 7, Nevada 6, 10 innings, Nevada eliminated

        Game 8-Hawaii 11, Fresno State 3

        TODAY

        Game 9-San Jose State (23-36) vs. Fresno State (36-24), 1 p.m.

        Game 10-Hawaii (32-25) vs. Game 9 winner, 4:30 p.m.

        TOMORROW

        Game 11-Game 10 winner vs. Game 10 loser (if necessary), 9 a.m.

David Freitas hit a solo home run and Kevin Macdonald went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including a bases-clearing double in the fifth that helped his team build a 9-0 lead.

“;I wasn't trying to score all three, I was just trying to get the ball to the outfield to get one in,”; Macdonald said. “;Fastball away and I got it in the gap and put a good swing on it, for once.”;

While the entire lineup has seemingly hit its stride at the same time, it has all started with Wong batting leadoff. The sophomore second baseman began the game with a walk and scored on a one-out single by Jeff Van Doornum. Then in the second, Wong smoked the first pitch from Fresno State starter Josh Poytress into nearly the same spot he hit his two homers on Wednesday against Louisiana Tech.

In his last 13 plate appearances, Wong is batting .778 (7-for-9) with three homers, three walks (two intentional), seven runs and eight RBIs.

“;I'm just seeing the ball well right now and there's no better time than now,”; Wong said.

Wong also came up big defensively, helping turn three of Hawaii's four double plays.

The biggest came in the fourth after the Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out. Brennan Gowers, who was 4-for-4 with six RBIs in FSU's opening win over San Jose State, drew a walk to load the bases for Garrett Weber. Weber smoked a 1-2 pitch from Sisto right at Wong, who flipped to shortstop Greg Garcia, who turned the double play to end the inning.

“;Sisto did an awesome job today and did what we needed him to do,”; Wong said. “;Thanks to him we got the double plays and got him out of the inning.”;

All four were inning-ending double plays, including the final one in the ninth.

Blair Walters finished the game with two innings of one-run ball, helping UH save its staff for today. Connor Little (2-1, 6.40 ERA) is expected to start tonight, but will have a full contingent of relievers backing him up, including a well-rested Lenny Linsky.

“;It was big we were able to win with a cushion because we didn't have to use Lenny and we didn't have to use Jesse (Moore),”; Trapasso said. “;I was going to go to Connor Little if it were tight at the end, but now Connor will be fresh to start tomorrow.”;

Three different Rainbows had three hits, including Collin Bennett, who hit two doubles to tie a tournament record with five.

Poytress (6-6), who held the Rainbows to one run in 7 1/3 innings at Les Murakami Stadium last month, allowed six hits and four runs in two innings to take the loss.

Nevada 5, New Mexico State 4

Cullen Mahoney, who grew up in nearby Phoenix, hit a pinch-hit walk-off homer to eliminate the second-seeded Aggies after just two games.

San Jose State 7, Nevada 6, 10 inn.

The Wolf Pack's luck ran out in the 10th when Zack Jones hit a two-run single to center to score Tim Quiery with the winning run.

The Spartans (23-26) rallied with a run in the ninth to send the game to extra innings. Kevin Rodland hit an RBI single in the top of the 10th to give Nevada the lead, but the Wolf Pack (36-22-1) couldn't hold it.

Kamehameha graduate Waylen Sing Chow finished 2-for-5 with an RBI for Nevada, which was eliminated.

HAWAII 11, FRESNO STATE 3

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
FRESNO ST.ABRHBIHAWAIIABRHBI
Muno 2b5010Wong 2b2223
Robinson lf4010Kitamura 3b5020
Coyle dh4120Van Doornum dh4121
Ribera 1b4122Freitas c5221
Gowens cf2000Garcia ss4131
Weber ss4000Bennett cf5230
Garrison c3010Koissian rf5101
Wynns ph0100Macdonald 1b4134
Detwiler rf3010Roquemore lf4100
Charles 3b2010 
Wise ph1000
Vivas 3b0000
Cederquist ph1011
Totals333103Totals38111711

                                                                                                                                                           
FRESNO STATE0000020013100
HAWAII12114101X11170


DP—Fresno State 2; Hawaii 4. LOB—Fresno State 7; Hawaii 10. 2B—Coyle; Ribera; Bennett 2; Macdonald. HR—Ribera; Wong; Freitas. HBP—Garcia. SB—Gowens. SF—Wong.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Fresno StateIPHRERBBSO
Poytress (L, 6-6)264423
Benny1 2/301110
Kendall2/324400
Escat3 2/392222
HawaiiIPHRERBBSO
Sisto (W, 5-5)772234
Walters231112


WP—Benny. HBP—by Kendall (Garcia). PB—Garrison.

Umpires—Gus Rodriguez (Plate); Steve Burleson (First); Travis Katzenmier (Second).

T—N/A. A—566.