Monday, February 15, 1999

Rainbows
making it easy on
Yoshimasu

Hawaii has scored 41
runs in the pitcher's
last two games

By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin

Troy Yoshimasu knows the good fortune won't last forever, but he is taking advantage of some outrageous numbers to work himself back into pitching shape.

For the second consecutive week, the Rainbows staked Yoshimasu to an early double-digit lead and the senior left-hander hurled five strong innings to earn his third victory of the season.

St. Mary's (1-7) used five pitchers but had little success as Hawaii (10-2) took the three-game series, 2-1, with a 20-3 rout at Rainbow Stadium yesterday afternoon.

"You saw it all out there. They ran out of pitching just like Cal State Sacramento a week ago," Hawaii head coach Les Murakami said. "If it had been a normal game and he was pitching well, I would have left Troy in longer."

But, with a 19-1 lead after five innings, Yoshimasu's work was done and it was time to continue the bullpen auditions. A week ago Saturday, the 5-foot-6, 163-pounder took the rest of the day off with a 17-4 lead in a 21-4 win.

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
UH pitcher Troy Yoshimasu has been enjoying lots of
offensive support, as he did in yesterday's 20-3 win.

Having missed most of fall practice because of knee surgery, Yoshimasu really has been rounding into shape during his four starts this spring.

"I feel a lot more confident out there. I throw more strikes now. I'm not just a thrower. I'm more of a pitcher since I got my rhythm back," he said. "The offense and defense has scored a whole bunch of runs for me so a lot of it has to do with them."

"He's pretty close to where we want him," said UH pitching coach Carl Furutani. "Mechanically he wasn't feeling right. He wasn't keeping his weight back (when delivering a pitch). He pressed early in January and competition does that to you, but luckily with Troy, he's a big-time competitor."

When Yoshimasu doesn't keep his weight back, his pitches are high and are either hitable or are balls. It bothered him that he was putting opponents on base without giving his defense a chance. Seven walks in 13 innings isn't quality pitching.

Yesterday, he faced 20 Gaels and walked nones.

Conversely, St. Mary's pitchers walked nine, threw five wild pitches and hit six Rainbows to tie the single-game opponent mark set by Hawaii-Hilo last year.

The 'Bows also found enough pitches in or near the strike zone to collect 17 hits, including three doubles and two triples.

Kenn Wakakuwa and Scooter Martines each had three hits, including a double. Martines knocked in three teammates, Wakakuwa two. Darin Baker had a two-run triple to right-center field. Sean Takamori and Lars Hansen each had two RBIs.

Wakakuwa said the switch back to aluminum bats is coming along just fine. It's just a matter of being patient a split second longer.

"l still need to make little adjustments," he said. "It's basically the same thing, but the bat is a little lighter so you have to wait a little longer for the ball to get to you."

Martines continues to celebrate regaining his eligibility. The transfer from Texas Tech is hitting .556 (10-for-18) in five games.

Jamie Aloy's five trips to the plate yesterday produced the strange line of 0-3-0-0 on four walks and a hit-by-pitch. The first three times he walked, he scored.

Sean Takamori stole second base in the first and second innings and is 11-for-11 this season.

This weekend's games against No. 1 Wichita State are the last nonconference contests before UH begins Western Athletic Conference competition.

NOTES: Murakami put a complete new lineup on the field to start the sixth inning ... Yesterday's three-hour, 28-minute game was the longest this season.

Box Score

Rainbows 20, Gaels 3

St. Mary's					Hawaii
		ab	r	h	bi			ab	r	h	bi
Donohue rf-cf	4	0	1	0	Takamori rf	4	3	2	2
Graziani cf	1	0	0	0	Honma rf	2	0	1	0
M. Waugh c	3	1	1	0	Dartt 2b	4	2	1	3
Vesce c		1	0	0	0	Nogawa 2b	2	0	1	0
Stauder dh	4	0	0	0	Wakakuwa 3b	4	3	3	2
Kermode 1b	4	1	2	0	Taguchi 3b	2	0	1	0
Cohan 3b	3	0	2	2	Aloy 1b		0	3	0	0
Santos 3b	1	0	0	0	Stegmaier 1b	1	0	0	0
J. Waugh lf-rf	4	1	2	0	Martines lf	5	0	3	3
Summerville cf	1	0	0	0	Polk lf		1	0	0	0
T. Nichols lf	3	0	0	0	Nakano dh	4	2	1	1
Wayne ss	4	0	0	0	Tanigawa ph	1	0	0	0
R. Nichols 2b	4	0	0	0	Hansen c	3	2	1	2
						Aoki c		2	1	1	0
						Miller ss	2	2	1	1
						Pico ss		0	0	0	0
						Baker cf	3	2	1	2
						Mitchell cf	0	0	0	1

	Totals	37	3	8	2		Totals	40	20	17	17


St. Mary's	000	101	001-- 3
Hawaii		312	850	01x--20

E--M. Waugh (2), Kermode (1), Cohan (3), R. Nichols (3), Taguchi (1), Miller (4), Yoshimasu (1). DP--StM 1 (Wayne-R. Nichols), UH 1 (Pico-Nogawa-Stegmaier). LOB--StM 7, UH 13.

2B--M. Waugh (2), Kermode (4), Wakakuwa (2), Martines (1), Miller (1). 3B--Aoki (1), Baker (1). SB--Takamori 2 (11). S--Hansen (1), Mitchell (1).

			IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Bye (L, 0-3)		1/3	2	3	3	2	0
Byer			3-1/3	6	8	6	2	1
LaRochette		1/3	3	3	3	2	0
Rust			2/3	1	5	0	0	0
Whitney			3-1/3	5	1	1	3	0
Yoshimasu (W, 3-0)	5	3	1	1	0	2
Bergman			1	3	1	1	0	2
Pribble			1	1	0	0	0	0
Garrick			1	0	0	0	0	0
Snider			1	1	1	0	0	0

WP--Byer 4, LaRochette, Bergman. HBP--Nakano and Miller (by Byer), Miller, Baker, Wakakuwa and Aloy (by Rust).

Umpires--Tomaszewski (plate), Ogawa (first), LeBeau (third).

T--3:28. A--1,393 (tickets issued 2,480).