Saturday, March 13, 1999
More road
woes for UH
The Rainbow baseball team
Star-Bulletin staff
drops its series opener
at San Jose StateSAN JOSE, Calif. -- Every time the Rainbows hit the ball hard, there was a Spartan there to field it. Every time the Spartans hit the ball hard, it found space between the Hawaii infielders or reached the gaps in the outfield.
That was UH head baseball coach Les Murakami's take on the Rainbows' 9-3 loss to San Jose State in the opener of a three-game Western Athletic Conference baseball series at Municipal Stadium last night.
"More than anything else, they hit the ball hard. Every time Jamie (Aloy) made a mistake, they hit it," Murakami said.
Aloy lasted 6-1/3 innings and gave up 12 hits and seven runs.
The inning that hurt the most was the fourth when San Jose State broke a 1-1 tie with three runs. The play that hurt was Tony Tognetti's double to the right-center field alley on which UH center fielder Rah-Miel Mitchell just missed snagging the ball with a diving catch.
"It would have been a spectacular play by Mitchell and he would have doubled the guy off first and we would have been out of the inning," Murakami said.
The Spartans (13-9-1 overall, 4-0 WAC), who moved into a first-place tie with San Diego State, built a 7-1 lead before UH scored again.
SJS starter Steve Murphy, after allowing three hits and UH's run in the second inning, did not give up another hit until the eighth, when Mitchell singled home Matt Wheeler.
Tognetti, a junior college transfer hitting .264 entering the game, celebrated moving into the clean up spot from No. 5 by going 4-for-4 and knocking in three runs.
Ryan Brucker and Gary Patchett, hitting .222 before the game, each had three hits and drove in a run.
Mitchell was the only Rainbow with two hits. Sean Takamori's RBI single in the second improved his hitting streak to nine games. Lars Hansen, meanwhile, had his stopped at nine games.
Hawaii dropped to 15-7 overall, 2-5 in conference play. The series continues with day games today and tomorrow.
Spartans 9, Rainbows 3
Hawaii San Jose State ab r h bi ab r h bi Takamori rf 4 0 1 1 Brucker cf 5 2 3 1 Dartt 2b 4 1 1 0 Ruiz dh 4 1 1 0 Nakano dh 3 0 1 0 Duncan rf 2 1 1 1 Martines lf 4 0 0 0 Tognetti 3b 4 2 4 3 Wakakuwa 1b 4 0 0 1 Rouse ss 3 1 1 1 Wheeler 3b 3 1 0 0 Winterberg 1b 4 0 0 0 Hansen c 2 0 0 0 Wright c 4 0 1 1 Miller ss 3 0 1 0 Douglass lf 4 1 1 0 Mitchell cf 3 1 2 1 Patchett 2b 4 1 3 1 Totals 30 3 6 3 Totals 34 9 15 8 Hawaii 001 000 011--3 San Jose State 100 310 22x--9E--Wheeler (6), Duncan (1), Rouse (8). DP--UH 1, SJS 2. LOB--UH 3, SJS 5.2B--Brucker (2), Tognetti (4), Patchett (2). 3B--Rouse (1). S--Ruiz (1). SF--Duncan (1).
IP H R ER BB SO Aloy (L, 4-4) 6-1/3 12 7 6 0 3 Mackenzie 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 Pribble 1 3 2 2 0 1 Murphy (W, 3-1) 8 4 2 1 2 5 Key 1 2 1 1 0 1WP--Pribble 2 (2), Murphy 2 (5). PB--Hansen. HBP--Duncan and Rouse (by Aloy), Hansen (by Murphy).Umpires--Burleson (plate), Samuels (first), Williamson (third).
T--2:26. A--410.
WAC
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. San Jose St. 4 0 1.000 -- 13 9 .587 San Diego St. 4 0 1.000 -- 14 10 .583 Texas Christian 5 1 .833 -- 11 10 .524 Rice 3 1 .750 1 20 5 .800 Brigham Young 5 3 .625 1 10 12 .455 Nevada-LV 3 2 .600 1-1/2 9 15 .375 Hawaii 2 5 .286 2-1/2 15 7 .682 Fresno St. 1 5 .167 4 13 14 .481 New Mexico 1 5 .167 4 9 16 .365 Utah 0 3 .000 3-1/2 10 10 .500 Air Force 0 3 .000 3-1/2 9 13 .409New Mexico and San Jose St. played a nonconference tie game.
Yesterday's results
San Jose State 9, Hawaii 3
American International 5, Air Force 2
Brigham Young 6, Nevada-Las Vegas 2
Fresno State 11, North Carolina 7
New Mexico 5, Gonzaga 3
San Diego State 5, Rice 4 (12)
Oral Roberts at Texas Christian, ppd. rain
Hawaii at San Jose State
Air Force vs. Lafayette
Brigham Young at Nevada-Las Vegas
New Mexico vs. Portland
Fresno State vs. North Carolina
Oral Roberts at Texas Christian
Rice at San Diego State
Utah at Southern Utah (2)
Hawaii at San Jose State
Air Force vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Oral Roberts at Texas Christian
Rice at San Diego State
