Saturday, January 30, 1999
Ho handcuffs
Golden Bears
He helps the UH
By Al Chase
baseball team go 5-0
Star-BulletinRandon Ho said he was stronger after seven innings last night than a week ago. He also showed that he could get through a rough spot better than he did a year ago.
The junior left-hander allowed just four hits in 72/3 innings and the Hawaii Rainbows (5-0) overcame their inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities to defeat California, 5-2, in a nonconference baseball game at Rainbow Stadium last night.
So far, the Randon Ho of 1999 has pitched much more effectively than the Randon Ho of 1998.
"I'm mentally stronger, mechanically more sound and try to stay within my capabilities," the 5-foot-10, 155-ponder said. "None of my pitches were special tonight, but they were good enough."
"He threw a lot of strikes and was around the zone, so we let the defense do the work," UH catcher Kenn Wakakuwa said.
Leading 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning, Ho faced a situation that probably would have caused him to unravel last season.
With two outs, UH shortstop Corey Miller threw wild to first base for a two-base error on Jason Dennis' grounder. Curtis Johnson then lifted a high fly to center that Rah-Miel Mitchell first misjudged, then dropped for another two-base error allowing the Golden Bears (0-3) to cut their deficit to one run.
Ho acknowledged he reacted differently to the errors than he would have in previous seasons, saying, "It's in the past, so the next pitch is the most important one."
Except for two instances of control problems, Cal starter Jon Shirley and reliever David Cash were equally tough, stranding 13 Hawaii runners on the base paths. The Rainbows left the bases loaded three times.
"We had so many chances and couldn't cash in and it wasn't because we didn't have our good guys up," UH head coach Les Murakami said.
Designated hitter Tracy Nakano drew a bases-loaded walk in the first for the first UH run. Jamie Aloy singled home two runs with a two-out flare to left-center field in the second.
But Shirley, a 6-3, 195-pound right-hander, retired the next seven Rainbows and displayed his toughness in the fifth. With one out and the bases loaded, he struck out Lars Hansen on a breaking pitch and induced Wade Taguchi to ground out to first.
Cash, a 6-1, 185-pound right-hander, faced a similar situation in the seventh, bases loaded, no outs. He seemed on the verge of getting out of it without damage when he issued consecutive walks to Mitchell and Sean Takamori.
When Juan Hernandez singled with two down in the eighth, Ian Jones came on in relief. He threw two pitches before Wakakuwa threw out Hernandez on a steal attempt. Rich Snider gave up a two-out single in the ninth before earning his third save.
In 13 relief appearances this season, UH pitchers have allowed eight hits, no runs, walked three and fanned seven in 14 innings.
Taguchi, a redshirt freshman playing second base in place of Michael Dartt, singled on the first pitch he saw in his debut and made a fine leaping grab of David Sark's line drive in the fifth.
Dartt is out until at least Monday, pending results of a bone scan on his right ankle.
Rainbows 5, Golden Bears 2
California Hawaii ab r h bi ab r h bi Hernandez cf 4 0 1 0 Takamori rf 3 1 1 1 Williams ss 4 0 0 0 Miller ss 4 0 0 0 Nady 3b 4 1 2 0 Wakakuwa c 5 0 1 0 Tonis c 4 0 1 1 Aloy lf 5 1 3 2 Meyer rf 4 0 0 0 Wheeler 3b 3 1 2 0 Sark dh 3 0 0 0 Nakano dh 3 0 1 1 Hoover 2b 3 0 0 0 Hansen 1b 4 0 0 0 Dennis 1b 2 1 0 0 Taguchi 2b 4 1 1 0 Johnson lf 3 0 1 1 Mitchell cf 2 1 1 1 Totals 31 2 5 2 Totals 33 5 10 5 California 000 110 000--2 Hawaii 120 000 20x--5E--Meyer (1), Shirley (1), Miller (1), Aloy (1), Mitchell (1). DP--UH 1 (Wheeler, Taguchi, Hansen). LOB--Cal 3, UH 13.2B--Nady (1), Takamori (1), Aloy (2). S--Takamori (1), Wheeler (2).
IP H R ER BB SO Shirley (0-1) 5 5 3 2 5 6 Cash 3 5 2 0 2 2 Ho (W, 2-0) 7-2/3 4 2 0 1 4 Jones 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 Snider (S, 3) 1 1 0 0 0 0Umpires--Montalbo (plate), Le Beau (first), Torres (third).T--2:43. A--1,689 (turnstile), 2,564 (tickets issued).
