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Saturday, January 29, 2000 0
Improving Rainbows
By Al Chase
go for series sweep
Star-BulletinRich Snider made his second start of the season last night against San Diego and pitched his best in the sixth and seventh innings.
He almost didn't get that opportunity because Hawaii head coach Les Murakami considered taking him out after the fifth inning.
"For the first five innings he threw junk," Murakami said. "If he threw 15 breaking pitches, two were for strikes."
"I was trying to throw the curve ball for a strike first pitch. If I didn't get it, I'd have to come back with my fastball," Snider said.
Fortunately for Snider, the Rainbows scored four first-inning runs on one hit, a hit batter, three walks and two wild pitches by San Diego starter Kevin Gray.
Designated hitter Shane Chan, who had four RBIs, accounted for two of those with a single in the three-run second inning.
The final run in the 8-1 victory at Rainbow Stadium came on Danny Kimura's triple and Chan's groundout in the fifth. Otherwise, it was a ho-hum ballgame.
"They were out of it after two innings," Murakami said. "We didn't play great, but we didn't play bad. You have to win these kind of games."
Since the Florida series, Snider had worked on spotting the ball and getting ahead in the count. The senior right-hander had better success spotting the fastball against the Toreros (3-4).
He eventually established the breaking pitch. Snider needed just 12 and nine pitches, respectively, to retire USD in order in the sixth and seventh innings.
Freshman catcher Brian Bock has been behind the plate for both of Snider's starts.
"We're still learning each other. He shook me off maybe four times tonight," Bock said.
Manuel Olivera, a junior transfer from Barcelona, Spain, via Blinn College (Texas), finished with two hitless innings.
Olivera, a left-hander who was lit up (five hits in one inning) by Florida, was a noticeably different pitcher. The angle of his arm upon delivery was much lower, three quarters to sidearm at times.
"I think last week convinced him he had to keep the ball down," pitching coach Carl Furutani said. "His motion was much smoother and he was getting a bit of movement (on the ball)."
Olivera retired the side in order in the eighth.
The Toreros put two runners on in the ninth on infield errors, but Olivera fanned Mike McCoy to end the game.
"Manny is going to get better. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't start," Murakami said.
With the early lead, the Rainbows' batters went into a funk.
USD's two relievers, left-handers Bryan Bealer and Tim Issacson, worked the middle to outer half of the plate. Instead of going with the pitch, many of the Rainbows, especially the right-handed batters, kept trying to pull the ball.
In the final six innings, only Kimura was able to hit a ball to the right of the USD second baseman. It went for a triple.
"Some of these guys have got to start using their heads," Murakami said.
"You're supposed to go up the middle instead of trying to pull the pitch."
Hawaii (2-3) will try to even its season record by sweeping the series today. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Chad Giannetti, a freshman right-hander, will start on the mound for the Rainbows.
BOW BUNTS:
Two more Western Athletic Conference teams opened the season yesterday. Fresno State played host to preseason No. 1 Stanford and lost to the Cardinal, 10-2. Junior right-hander Justin Wayne, a former Punahou standout, gets the start for Stanford today. Defending WAC champion Rice lost to Clemson, 3-1, in the ACC/Disney Baseball Blast at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
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Rainbows 8, Toreros 1
SAN DIEGO AB R H BI HAWAII AB R H B1 McCoy 2b 4 0 0 0 Jackson cf 4 0 0 0 Harris ss 4 0 0 0 Baker cf 0 0 0 0 Reese rf 4 0 2 0 Honma rf 3 1 1 0 Sain c 4 0 0 0 Gilbride rf 0 0 0 0 Lima lf 3 1 1 0 Scalabrini ss 2 2 0 0 Oseguera dh 3 0 1 1 Kimura 3b 2 3 2 1 Assael ph 1 0 0 0 Mitchell lf 1 0 0 0 Hayes 1b 3 0 0 0 Chan dh 2 1 0 4 Perez cf 2 0 0 0 Boudon ph 0 0 0 0 Skinner 3b 4 0 0 0 Aloy lf-1b 3 0 0 1 Wakakuwa 2b 3 0 0 2 Purtell 2b 1 0 0 0 Bock c 3 0 0 0 Aoki c 0 0 0 0 Pico ss 3 1 1 0 Totals 32 1 4 1 Totals 27 8 5 8 San Diego 010 000 000 - 1 4 2 Hawaii 430 010 00x - 8 5 2E-McCoy (1), Bealer (1), Aloy (1), Pico (1).DP-USD 1 (McCoy-Harris-Hayes), UH 1 (Snider-Scalabrini). LOB-USD 9, UH 2.
3B-Lima (2), Kimura (1). SB-McCoy (6), Honma (3), Kimura (1), Boudon (1), Pico (1).
San Diego
IP H R ER BB SO Gray (L, 0-2) 1 1 4 4 3 0 Bealer 4 4 4 4 1 1 Issacson 3 0 0 0 2 0Hawaii
IP H R ER BB SO Snider (W, 1-1) 7 4 1 1 4 8 Olivera 2 0 0 0 0 3WP-Gray 2 (2), Snider 1 (1). HBP-Scalabrini (by Gray), Perez (by Snider).Umpires-Ogawa (plate), Tomaszewski (first), Ormita (third).
T-2:31. A-1,022.
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