Friday, April 30, 1999
Rainbow bats
come alive for
key win at Utah
Hawaii bangs out 21 hits in
Staff and wire reports
the 13-8 victory to keep pace
with Fresno State in WAC
playoff baseball raceSALT LAKE CITY -- The weather forecast called for rain. Instead, it was the Rainbows of Hawaii who rained hits all over Franklin-Covey Field last night.
UH head coach Les Murakami called the display one of the team's better hitting performances of the season, citing the patience the Rainbow batters showed in delivering 21 hits.
The offense backed the pitching of right-hander Rich Snider, leading to a 13-8 victory over Utah in the opener of a three-game Western Athletic Conference baseball series.
There was no change in the WAC standings, as seventh-place Fresno State maintained its one-game lead over Hawaii (29-17, 9-13 WAC) by edging visiting Brigham Young, 3-2, in 10 innings last night.
Every Rainbow starter had at least one hit. Sean Takamori and Kenn Wakakuwa were the most productive, each going 4-for-5. Takamori raised his batting average to a team-leading .393. Wakakuwa jumped to .293, the first time he has flirted with .300 this late in the season.
"Everybody hit, so it was really a team kind of win. And we hit timely, not like when we played Rice," said Murakami.
"Unless we hit the way we did, we wouldn't have won. Every time they scored two runs, we scored three. We just played well."
Snider pitched seven solid innings, allowing 10 hits, including two home runs. He walked two --both in the third inning, one with the bases loaded -- and struck out four.
"Rich pitched OK, especially on this field, where the ball jumps," Murakami said.
The Rainbows broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the fifth inning, then added three runs in each of the next three innings.
In the fifth, Rah-Miel Mitchell reached base on an infield error and took second on Takamori's single to center. When Utah starting pitcher Brandon Page made a throwing error on Michael Dartt's sacrifice bunt, Mitchell scored, Takamori moved to third and Dartt wound up at second. Jamie Aloy's ground ball to second scored Takamori.
Highlights of the next three innings included Mitchell hitting his first home run with Corey Miller aboard in the sixth.
Miller also belted his second RBI triple of the game in the seventh and Lane Nogawa, Wakakuwa and Miller singled home runs in the eighth.
Miller's two triples tied a Rainbow single-game record held by many and last accomplished by Darren Blakely against Wright State in 1998.
Left-hander Dusty Bergman, who has pitched well in his last two starts in cold weather, will be on the mound for the Rainbows today.
Utah (18-23, 6-14) hit four home runs, two with a man on base and two solo shots.
WAC
Conference Overall Team W L Pct. GB W L Pct. x-Rice 21 3 .875 -- 44 9 .830 x-Texas Christian 17 6 .739 3 26 20 .565 Nevada-Las Vegas 13 8 .619 6 24 26 .480 San Jose St. 11 10 .524 8 21 23 .478 New Mexico 12 12 .500 9 25 24 .510 San Diego St. 10 11 .476 9 23 26 .469 Fresno St. 10 12 .455 10 28 26 .519 Hawaii 9 13 .409 11 29 17 .630 Brigham Young 7 14 .333 12 20 28 .417 Utah 6 14 .300 13 18 23 .439 Air Force 3 16 .158 15 17 28 .378x-Qualified for WAC tournament.New Mexico & San Jose St. played one tie game.
Yesterday's results
Hawaii 13, Utah 8
Fresno State 3, Brigham Young 2 (10)
Today's games
Hawaii at Utah, 1 p.m.
Brigham Young at Fresno State
Cal State Northridge at New Mexico
San Diego State at Nevada-Las Vegas
San Jose State at Air Force
Texas Christian at RiceTomorrow's games
Hawaii at Utah, 8 a.m.
Brigham Young at Fresno State
Cal State Northridge at New Mexico
San Diego State at Nevada-Las Vegas
San Jose State at Air Force
Texas Christian at Rice (2)Sunday's games
Cal State Northridge at New Mexico
San Diego State at Nevada-Las Vegas
San Jose State at Air Force
Hawaii 13, Utah 8
Hawaii AB R H BI Utah AB R H BI Takamori rf 5 2 4 0 Hilts cf 5 0 0 0 Dartt 2b 5 1 3 0 Castleton 2b 5 1 1 2 Aloy 1b 5 0 1 1 Wallace lf 5 2 3 0 Martines lf 5 2 2 2 Chrisman rf 5 1 2 2 Honma lf 0 0 0 0 Johnerson 1b 4 1 3 1 Nakano dh 5 1 1 0 Weese dh 4 0 0 0 Nogawa 3b 4 1 1 1 Hardy ph 1 0 0 0 Wakakuwa c 5 2 4 2 Larsen c 4 1 1 1 Miller ss 5 2 3 3 Goff 3b 4 1 1 1 Mitchell cf 5 2 2 2 Stuart ss 4 1 2 1 Totals 44 13 21 11 41 8 13 8 Hawaii 200 023 330--13 21 2 Utah 011 001 221-- 8 13 2LOB--Hawaii 9, Utah 8. E--Miller (14), Mitchell (3), Goff (13), Page (2). DP--Utah 2.2B--Takamori (7), Wallace (13), Johnerson (12), Stuart (3). 3B--Miller 2 (2). HR--Mitchell (1), Castleton (7), Chrisman (3), Johnerson (12), Goff (3). SB--Takamori (29), Dartt (12). SH--Dartt (18), Nogawa (1).
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Snider (W,5-5) 7 10 5 4 2 4 Jones 2 3 3 3 0 1 Utah IP H R ER BB SO Page (L,6-4) 6 12 7 5 1 3 Martinez 1 5 3 3 0 0 Cullen 0 0 2 2 2 0 Cavaness 1 3 1 1 0 1 Maio 1 1 0 0 0 1Cullen pitched to two batters in the 8th.WP--Martinez.
Umpires--Baily (plate), Jensen (first), Leonard (third). A--132. T--2:45.
