Monday, March 22, 1999
Fresno State
denies Hawaii
a series sweep
Nick Moran shuts down the
By Al Chase
UH baseball team after a rocky start
Star-BulletinOnce the Fresno State Bulldogs stopped giving away runs and backed the solid pitching effort of Nick Moran with their own offense, Hawaii was in trouble.
Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett must have thought "here we go again" when Hawaii took a 2-0, first-inning lead on just one hit.
However, Moran, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound freshman right-hander, didn't flinch and eventually got the offensive help necessary when freshman first baseman Brandon Gemoll belted a three-run homer in the seventh inning.
That blast broke a 3-3 stalemate as the Bulldogs avoided a sweep of the three-game Western Athletic Conference series with a 6-4 victory at rain- and wind-swept Rainbow Stadium yesterday.
Gemoll certainly wasn't thinking home run with teammates standing at second and third, two out and an 0-2 count against Hawaii closer Rich Snider.
"I was looking to put the ball in play. I had seen his off-speed stuff, but wasn't looking for any particular pitch," Gemoll said. "With this grass, anything can happen, so I just wanted to hit it."
Gemoll hit a long foul to right on a change-up, then launched a curve ball down over the right-field fence at the 350-foot mark.
Unfortunately for Snider, who started the seventh inning, he walked the first two batters on eight consecutive balls. That compounded the damage caused by Gemoll's third homer of 1999.
Fresno State (13-18 overall, 2-7 WAC) had tied the score at 2-2 in the fifth with some help from UH starter Dusty Bergman. He hit a batter and walked the next one to load the bases after Tom Creighton singled to start the inning.
Reliever Ken Mackenzie walked in one run and another scored on Brad Harper's ground single to left on a two-strike pitch.
Moran surrendered a two-run single to Scooter Martines in the first inning and an RBI double in the fifth, but had most UH batters guessing on the next pitch -- fastball, curve, slider or change-up. He furthered the confusion by changing speeds well.
"It was a tough one because we hadn't been playing well, but Moran did a good job," Bennett said. "He's not used to playing that much and is just getting his confidence back after getting blown out by Cal State Fullerton a couple weeks ago."
"We just didn't hit. The first two runs were a gift and walks killed us. Snider's got three losses and it's all because of walks," UH head coach Les Murakami said.
It was frustrating for several Rainbows, Kenn Wakakuwa in particular, who hit the ball hard but couldn't buy a base hit. The final out symbolized the day for the UH offense.
With Lane Nogawa, who filled in nicely at shortstop for Cory Miller, on third base, Jamie Aloy ripped a ball up the middle that ricocheted off reliever Hans Smith's foot right to Gemoll at first base to end the game.
The teams play again tonight as the 24th Rainbow Easter Tournament opens. Bennett will start right-hander Ozzie Gonzalez (3-1, 5.90). Murakami will go with left-hander Randon Ho (4-2, 1.41), if he's healthy, or right-hander Sean Yamashita (0-0, 9.95).
BOW BUNTS: Miller missed his second game after spraining his left ankle in Friday's game. He should be ready during the tournament ... Rory Pico will visit the doctor today to check on his sprained left knee.
WAC
Conference Overall W L Pct . GB W L Pct. Rice 7 2 .778 -- 25 6 .806 San Jose St. 7 2 .778 -- 16 12 .569 Texas Christian 7 2 .778 -- 14 13 .519 Nevada-Las Vegas 4 2 .667 1 14 16 . 467 Brigham Young 7 5 .583 1 13 14 .481 San Diego St. 5 4 .556 2 15 14 .517 Hawaii 4 8 . 333 4 17 10 .630 Air Force 2 4 .333 3 15 15 .500 Fresno St. 2 7 .222 5 13 18 .419 New Mexico 2 7 .222 5 11 18 .383 Utah 1 5 .167 4 13 13 .500 NM & SJS played one tie game. Yesterday's results Fresno State 6,Hawaii 4 Nevada-Las Vegas 12, CS Northridge 1 New Mexico 17, Texas Christian 16 Rice 5, Utah 2 San Diego State 17, Air Force 9Fresno St. 6, Hawaii 4
Fresno St Hawaii AB R H BI AB R H BI Creighton 2b 5 1 2 0 Takamori cf 3 2 1 0 Guzman cf 3 1 2 1 Dartt 2b 4 1 1 0 Acevedo lf 4 0 0 0 Aloy rf 4 1 1 0 Duke rf 3 0 0 0 Martines lf 3 0 2 4 Gerber rf 1 0 1 0 Nakano dh 3 0 0 0 Prieto dh 2 1 1 0 Wakakuwa 1b 4 0 0 0 Harper c 5 1 1 1 Hansen c 4 0 0 0 Garcia 3b 5 0 0 0 Wheeler 3b 4 0 0 0 Gemoll 1b 4 1 1 3 Nogawa ss 3 0 1 0 Fanconi ss 4 1 2 0 Totals 36 6 10 6 Totals 32 4 6 4 Fresno St. 000 021 300--6 10 2 Hawaii 200 010 100--4 6 0 E--Harper (2), Fanconi (10). LOB--Fresno St. 10, Hawaii 8. 2B--Fanconi (8), Aloy (8), Martines (5), Nogawa (2). 3B--Guzman (1).HR--Gemoll (3).SH--Prieto (1), Takamori (5), Dartt (8).SF--Martines (3). Fresno St. IP H R ER BB SO Moran (W, 3-3) 6.1 5 4 2 3 3 Smith (S,3) 2.2 1 0 0 0 2 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Bergman 4.1 5 2 2 2 2 Mackenzie 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 Garrick 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 Snider (L,1-3) 3.0 2 3 3 2 0PB--Harper. HBP--Nogawa (by Moran), Guzman (by Bergman).Umpires--Ridd (plate), Pedersen (first), Montalbo (third). A--1,544 (2,661 tickets issued).
