Saturday, March 20, 1999
Early runs help
’Bows past Fresno
Jamie Aloy cruises after
By Al Chase
UH opens with five runs
in the first inning
Star-BulletinThere was a difference in Jamie Aloy's ninth start of the season. The Rainbows staked the left-hander to a nice first-inning lead.
"I think that's the first time since last year," Aloy said. "After the first inning, I just went back out and made my defense play."
Hawaii (16-9 overall, 3-7 WAC) turned a five-run first into an 11-5 victory over Fresno State last night in the opener of a three-game, Western Athletic Conference series before a crowd of 1,228 on a rainy night at Rainbow Stadium.
1975: Hawaii. Rainbow Easter
Tournament Champions
1976: Hawaii.
1977: Hawaii.
1978: Santa Clara.
1979: Hawaii.
1980: Hawaii.
1981: Hawaii.
1982: No tournament.
1983: Wichita State.
1984: Lewis-Clark State.
1985: Wichita State.
1986: Georgia Tech.
1987: Wichita State.
1988: Lewis-Clark State.
1989: Wichita State.
1990: Hawaii.
1991: Wichita State.
1992: Meiji (Japan).
1993: Hawaii.
1994: Hawaii.
1995: Meiji (Japan).
1996: Hawaii.
1997: Wichita State.
1998: Nebraska.
The UH outburst, not to be confused with several Manoa cloudbursts that swept across the field during the game, started innocently enough.
Michael Dartt blooped a 3-2 pitch behind third base, just out of the reach of three Bulldogs, for a single. Tracy Nakano then slapped a 1-2 pitch into the hole between short and third for a single.
Scooter Martines then swung and missed on Tom Graham's first two pitches and barely fouled off the third before drilling a two-run triple into the right-field gap.
After Kenn Wakakuwa walked, Lars Hansen lined a two-run triple into the right-field corner. He scored on Rah-Miel Mitchell's slow bouncer to short.
"It was another slider. I was in the hole 0-2 and had runners on," Martines said. "I widened my stance a bit and just wanted to put the ball in play on the right side. I got lucky. The bat ran into the ball."
Hansen said his triple came on a change-up that was up.
"He just made a mistake and I hit it. I saw pitches well tonight in every at-bat," Hansen said.
Graham settled down to hold UH scoreless until Kenn Wakakuwa's RBI triple in the fifth.
Aloy, who got out of the first inning by throwing a double-play ball to Anthony Acevedo, also had to settle down a bit. The rain made it necessary for the grounds crew to work longer than usual before the game started, disrupting Aloy's pregame routine.
"That's tough for a starting pitcher. It throws his timing off," said UH pitching coach Carl Furutani. "After the first inning, it's easier."
"I thought Jamie was going to cruise. I don't know what happened," said Hawaii head coach Les Murakami.
Aloy's only difficult inning was the seventh, when Fresno State (12-17, 1-6) scored their first two runs.
"I think he was off mechanically. He told me his arm angle was up a little bit when we got back in the dugout," Hansen said.
"I knew it with the first batter. It seemed like I had a mental block," Aloy said. "It was a weird feeling, especially with the big lead."
He corrected the problem in the eighth, getting three ground ball outs with nine pitches.
"In my mind he was guaranteed a complete game tonight. I just felt he was like last year when he threw all those complete games," Hansen said. "It was that easy catching him tonight."
Aloy did run out of gas in the ninth, but Murakami was pleased he was able to save his bullpen.
"This is such an important series. We want guys that are fresh in the pen. That's why I stayed with Jamie," Murakami said. "We needed a big inning. We haven't had one for awhile.
"But I was disappointed we stopped scoring and disappointed Ian (Jones) couldn't throw strikes in the ninth with a big lead."
Monday: Northwestern vs. Hawaii Pacific, 11 a.m.; Hawaii-Hilo vs. Nittaidai, 2:30 p.m.; Fresno State vs. Hawaii, 6:37 p.m. 24th Rainbow Easter
Baseball TournamentTuesday: Hawaii Pacific vs. Hawaii-Hilo, 11 a.m.; Nittaidai vs. Fresno State, 2:30 p.m.; Northwestern vs. Hawaii, 6:37 p.m.
Wednesday: Fresno State vs. Hawaii Pacific, 11 a.m.; Hawaii-Hilo vs. Northwestern, 2:30 p.m.; Nittaidai vs. Hawaii, 6:37 p.m.
Thursday: Northwestern vs. Fresno State, 11 a.m.; Hawaii Pacific vs. Nittaidai, 2:30 p.m.; Hawaii-Hilo vs. Hawaii, 6:37 p.m.
Friday: Nittaidai vs. Northwestern, 11 a.m.; Fresno State vs. Hawaii-Hilo, 2:30 p.m.; Hawaii Pacific vs. Hawaii, 6:37 p.m.
March 27: Fifth seed vs. Sixth seed, 11 a.m.; Second seed vs. Third seed, 2:30 p.m.; First seed vs. Fourth seed, 6:37 p.m.
March 28: Fifth place, 9 a.m.; Third place, noon; Championship, 3 p.m.
Special rules
12-run rule: If a team is ahead by 12 or more runs after seven complete innings, the game will be declared complete. Televised games are not affected by this rule.
Three-hour time limit: No new inning will begin three hours after the start of the first two games each day with the exception of the championship rounds and televised games. In the event of a tie, the game will continue beyond the time limit until the tie is broken. The plate umpire in the official time-keeper.
Championship seedings: In the event of a tie for the final two days of competition, tie-breakers are: 1. head-to-head competition. 2. highest average of runs per game. 3. highest average of hits per game. 4. highest fielding percentage.
Box Score
Rainbows 11, Bulldogs 5
Fresno State Hawaii ab r h bi ab r h bi Creighton 2b 5 0 2 0 Takamori rf 4 0 1 2 Fanconi ss 4 1 1 0 Dartt 2b 5 1 2 0 Acevedo lf 2 2 0 0 Nakano dh 3 3 2 1 Bowlin rf 3 1 1 0 Martines lf 5 1 2 2 Tafoya dh 1 0 0 0 Honma lf 0 0 0 0 Prieto ph-dh 3 1 1 2 Wakakuwa 1b 4 2 1 2 Garcia 3b-1b 2 0 0 1 Hansen c 4 1 1 2 Gemoll 1b 2 0 0 0 Mitchell cf 3 0 0 1 Duke ph 1 0 0 1 Wheeler 3b 4 2 2 0 Hintz 1b 0 0 0 0 Miller ss 3 1 2 1 Gerber cf 1 0 0 0 Pico ss 0 0 0 0 Harper c 3 0 0 0 Guzman cf 2 0 0 0 Lopez ph-3b 2 0 1 1 Totals 31 5 6 5 Totals 35 11 13 11 Fresno State 000 000 203--5 Hawaii 500 012 21x--11E--Fanconi 2 (9), Garcia (3), Hannah (1), Martines (1), Miller (7). DP--UH 2 (Miller-Dartt-Wakakuwa, Dartt-Miller-Wakakuwa). LOB--FS 5, UH 7.2B--Fanconi (7), Bowlin (3), Prieto (2), Martines (4), 3B--Martines (1), Wakakuwa (1), Hansen (2). S--Takamori (4), Miller (3). SF--Garcia (1).
IP H R ER BB SO Graham (L, 3-4) 5 8 6 6 2 3 Hannah 1-1/3 3 4 0 1 1 Minor 1 2 1 1 1 0 Crivello 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 Aloy (W, 5-4) 8 5 5 4 2 4 Jones 2/3 1 0 0 1 0 Mackenzie 1/3 0 0 0 0 0Aloy pitched to three batters in the ninth inning.WP--Hannah (4). HBP--Hansen (by Graham), Acevedo (by Aloy), Garcia (by Jones).
Umpires--Pedersen (plate), Montalbo (first), Ridd (third). T--2:49. A--1,228 (tickets issued 2,393).
WAC
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 6 1 .857 -- 24 5 .828 San Jose St. 6 1 .857 -- 15 11 .574 Texas Christian 6 1 .857 -- 13 12 .520 Nevada-LV 4 2 .667 1-1/2 12 15 .444 Brigham Young 6 4 .600 1-1/2 12 13 .480 San Diego St. 4 3 .571 2 14 13 .519 Hawaii 3 7 .300 4-1/2 16 9 .640 Air Force 1 3 .250 3-1/2 14 14 .500 Fresno St. 1 6 .143 5 12 17 .414 New Mexico 1 6 .143 5 10 17 .375 Utah 0 4 .000 4-1/2 12 12 .500NM & SJS played one tie game.
Hawaii 11, Fresno State 5
Air Force 15, San Diego State 7
Brigham Young 14, San Jose State 9
Nevada-Las Vegas 14, Texas A&M 3x
Rice 12, Utah 1
Texas Christian 1, New Mexico 0
Fresno State at Hawaii
Nevada-Las Vegas vs. CS Northridge-x
Nevada-Las Vegas vs. Michigan-x
Rice at Utah
San Diego State at Air Force
San Jose State at Brigham Young (2)
Texas Christian at New Mexico
x-Aggie Continental Classic, College Station, Texas
