Saturday, March 6, 1999
Rainbows give
one to BYU
UH pitchers issue 10 walks
By Al Chase
in dropping a WAC baseball
game against the Cougars
Star-BulletinHawaii Rainbow pitchers walked a season-high 10 batters and paid dearly for their largess last night at Rainbow Stadium.
It took a couple of innings for Brigham Young's Cougars to figure out what to do with the generosity, but Nick Greene solved that problem with a bases-clearing triple to the right-center field alley in the third inning.
BYU's hurlers walked seven 'Bows, three of whom scored, but the Cougars (8-11 overall, 3-2 league) always managed to score in the inning following every UH run-scoring frame. And, all seven BYU runs came after two were out in an inning.
Sean Noorda, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-hander, the most effective pitcher of the evening, struck out six in three innings to earn the win in the Cougars' 7-5 victory before 2,364 fans.
The finale of the three-game Western Athletic Conference series starts at 1:05 p.m. today.
"The most disappointing thing was the pitching. It's the first time this season they fell apart all by themselves," UH head coach Les Murakami said.
"The 10 walks irked me. That's uncalled for. Randon Ho started it off. He was all over the place. He has to realize he has to work hard during the week. He can't rest on his laurels. If he works hard he'll be a real good pitcher."
Ho walked the bases full in the first, but got out of that jam. A double play helped the junior left-hander survive the second after he contributed to a two-on, no-out situation by failing to cover first on a grounder to Jamie Aloy.
But, after two singles and a two-out walk loaded the bases in the third inning, Greene ripped a 1-1 pitch to the wall and Ho was done.
"He just didn't have it. His overall game was terrible," UH pitching coach Carl Furutani said.
BYU starter Curtis Rodriguez left after four innings with a 3-2 lead. Hawaii had scored twice in the bottom of the inning on two walks, Scooter Martines' single and Aloy's sacrifice fly.
"Curtis didn't want to come out, but he's young and when he loses command of his pitches he hasn't shown that he can turn it around," BYU head coach Gary Pullins said. "I'm not sure he wasn't right after I brought (Matt) Rex in. Hawaii adjusted well to him."
The 'Bows (14-6, 1-4) scored twice off Rex in the fifth and Matt Wheeler started the sixth with a line triple to left-center field.
Enter Noorda, who fanned Corey Miller, 0 for his last 17 at-bats, on a 2-2 pitch. Rah-Miel Mitchell then hit a high chopper toward third and Wheeler broke for home.
"It's a reaction play. We tell our players to go if the ball is up the middle and the infielders are back. If it's to the corners, stay unless it's a high bouncer. I don't fault Wheeler," Murakami said.
BYU third baseman Chris Circuit charged, fielded and threw to catcher Michael Davies in time to get the sliding Wheeler.
"It's a shame, no question. It could have been a big inning," Murakami said. "But, we're not hitting in the clutch. That's a problem.
"You can look for excuses, but this team has to play up to its abilities and right now were not."
Martines had three of UH's eight hits and drove in three runs.
"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves that we didn't need to," Furutani said. "Coach Les talked about this before the game. When you start a game that way it's hard to change. We have to do a better job."
In today's rubber game, sophomore right-hander Patrick McNair makes his first start of the season for Hawaii. Left-hander Jordan Opdahl, a 6-6 junior, goes for Brigham Young.
SOLID DEFENSE: The Cougars, who were averaging two errors a game entering the series, have committed just one in the first two games here.
Cougars 7, Rainbows 5
Brigham Young Hawaii ab r h bi ab r h bi Belliston cf 6 0 0 0 Takamori rf 3 1 1 0 Circuit 3b 5 1 1 0 Dartt 2b 3 0 1 0 Johnson rf 3 0 0 0 Wakakuwa 1b 4 2 0 1 Pond 2b 5 3 3 0 Nakano dh 2 1 0 0 Jensen 1b 2 1 1 1 Honma pr 0 0 0 0 Davies c 3 2 2 0 Martines lf 5 0 3 3 Mathis pr 0 0 0 0 Aloy 1b 3 0 1 1 Freeman c 0 0 0 0 Wheeler 3b 3 0 1 0 Greene lf 3 0 2 4 Miller ss 3 0 0 0 Wirrick dh 2 0 1 1 Baker ph 1 0 0 0 Peterson dh 1 0 0 0 Pico ss 0 0 0 0 Howes ss 4 0 0 1 Mitchell cf 3 1 1 0 Totals 34 7 10 7 Totals 30 5 8 5 Brigham Young 003 021 010--7 Hawaii 000 220 100--5E--Wakakuwa (4). DP--BYU 1 (Pond-Howes-Jensen), UH 2 (Dartt-Miller-Aloy, Miller-Aloy). LOB--BYU 13, UH 9.2B--Pond (8), Jensen (10), Greene (2). 3B--Greene (1), Wheeler (2). SB--Wakakuwa (3), Mitchell (3). S--Johnson (2), Dartt (7). SF--Aloy (1).
IP H R ER BB SO Rodriguez 4 2 2 2 4 3 Rex 1 3 2 2 1 0 Noorda (W, 1-2) 3 3 1 1 0 6 Thomas (S, 3) 1 0 0 0 2 0 Ho (L, 4-2) 2-2/3 5 3 3 4 1 Yamashita 2 1 2 2 2 1 Jones 1 2 1 1 2 1 Garrick 1-1/3 0 0 0 1 0 Childers 2/3 2 1 1 1 1 Snider 1-1/3 0 0 0 0 2WP--Jones (1. HBP--Wheeler (by Rodriguez), Greene (by Yamashita and Snider), Nakano (by Rex).Umpires--Tomaszewski (plate), Franceschiello (first), Daugherty (third).
T--3:11. A--2,364 (tickets issued 3,230).
WAC
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 3 0 1.000 -- 19 3 .864 San Diego St. 1 0 1.000 1 11 9 .550 San Jose St. 1 0 1.000 1 9 9 .500 Nevada-LV 1 0 1.000 1 7 12 .368 Texas Christian 3 1 .750 1/2 9 9 .500 Brigham Young 3 2 .600 1 8 11 .421 Fresno St. 1 3 .250 2-1/2 8 11 .421 New Mexico 1 3 .250 2-1/2 7 12 .368 Hawaii 1 4 .200 3 14 6 .700 Utah 0 1 .000 2 10 8 .556 Air Force 0 1 .000 2 9 10 .474Today's games
Brigham Young at Hawaii
Air Force at Nevada-Las Vegas
New Mexico at San Jose State
Texas Christian at Fresno State
Utah at San Diego State
Dallas Baptist at Rice
Air Force at Nevada-Las Vegas
New Mexico at San Jose State
Texas Christian at Fresno State
Utah at San Diego State
Brigham Young 7, Hawaii 5
Nevada-Las Vegas 13, Air Force 1
Fresno State 7, Texas Christian 1
Rice 4, Dallas Baptist 3
San Diego State 6, Utah 3
San Jose State 4, New Mexico 2
