Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Monday, February 14, 2000
Rainbows on
short end of baseball
numbers game
Their troubles continue with
By Al Chase
12 runners stranded in a
10-4 loss to the Dons
Star-BulletinThe pieces to the Rainbow baseball puzzle still don't fit right.
Evidence is found in the numbers, beginning with Hawaii's 3-9 won-lost record.
Yesterday the Rainbows left 12 men on base in a 10-4 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco Dons.
Hawaii stranded 37 men on the bases in the three-game series. The 'Bows had 34 hits, but getting the key hit or bunching hits for a big inning still eludes them.
A team batting average of .263 and a team earned run average of 6.79 are telltale numbers.
"It's real stressful. We're in there working hard all week and it just doesn't happen our way," said UH third baseman Danny Kimura.
"We just don't get the hits when we need them. We have to just continue working hard. It should come around."
Kimura was 8-for-13 in the series after working on a bad habit that was causing him to lunge at outside pitches.
"I'm just trying to keep the weight back, trying not to get out front on the front foot," he said. "It's a longtime process. It's not going to come overnight. I have to keep working at it in the cage.
In two games, Jamie Aloy was 4-for-10 and Brian Bock was 4-for-7.
However, Patrick Scalabrini was 0-for-7, Kenn Wakakuwa 3-for-13 and Scooter Martines 3-for-12.
Martines isn't completely comfortable at the plate after injuring his left shoulder.
Sean Takamori played his first three games this weekend. He had one hit in each game, but the rust showed at times.
"Wakakuwa has had some hard luck with balls he hit hard and he gets down on himself," Hawaii head coach Les Murakami said.
"Scalabrini is only swinging one way. He's not using the whole field. He's the power guy, but he's not hitting the ball. At this stage, I've got to stay with him for awhile.
"The infield is OK. In the outfield, it's a question of playing defense or having offense. We have to get ready for the WAC. When you go up there, you have to have people who can mash the ball."
Yesterday, Rich Snider took a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning only to have everything unravel.
Danny Trumble singled, stole second, took third on a groundout and scored on Pat Walsh's single.
Murakami felt Chad Soares' fly ball to left-center field should have been caught. But Aloy lost it and Rah-Miel Mitchell couldn't get it. The double tied the score.
Nick Guerra singled to left, Soares stopping at third.
Jared Carvalho's push bunt was fielded by Snider, but Guerra was running on the play and Snider heard "three" called out. But, he double-pumped toward third and Soares scrambled back to the bag ahead of the throw.
Instead of one or two outs on the play, the bases were loaded with no outs. Two more singles and a throwing error by Wakakuwa on a potential double-play ball led to the Dons going ahead, 6-2.
Reliever Gavin Garrick struggled with command of his pitches and USF added a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth.
The one bright spot on the mound was 3-1/3 innings of hitless relief by Chad Giannetti.
"We got off to a bad start and we're pressing, trying to get it all back at one time," said Kimura. "I think if we just play how we can play, things should start working out."
Dons 10, Rainbows 4
SAN FRANCISCO AB R H BI HAWAII AB R H B1 Hurtado 2b 2 2 1 1 Takamori rf 4 1 1 1 Delucchi cf 4 0 2 2 Scalabrini 1b 4 0 0 0 Bozied 3b 4 1 2 1 Aloy lf 5 2 3 0 Leahy 3b 0 0 0 0 Kimura 3b 4 0 2 1 Trumble lf 5 2 2 1 Martines dh 2 0 0 2 Howard dh 5 0 0 0 Wakakwa 2b-c 5 0 0 0 Walsh rf 5 2 3 2 Nogawa ss 4 0 1 0 Soares 1b 4 1 3 1 Gilbride ph 1 0 0 0 Park pr 5 1 1 0 Aoki c 3 1 3 0 Naber 1b 1 0 0 0 Purtell pr-2b 0 0 0 0 Guerra c 3 1 2 1 Mitchell cf 3 0 1 0 Lum ph 1 0 0 0 Lopez c 1 0 0 0 Carvalho ss 5 1 0 0 Totals 40 10 15 9 Totals 35 4 11 4
San Francisco 000 613 000 - 10 15 1 Hawaii 110 010 100 - 4 11 1 E-Bozied (3), Wakakuwa (1). DP-USF 2 (Polanco-Carvalho-Soares, Carvalho-Hurtado-Soares), Hawaii 2 (Kimura-Scalabrini, Nogawa-Wakakuwa-Scalabrini). LOB-USF 8, Hawaii 12. 2B-Soares (1), Aloy (4), Kimura (6). 3B-Bozied (2). SB-Trumble (7), Walsh (4), Takamori (4), Scalabrini (2). CS-Nogawa (2). S-Delucchi (1). SF-Martines (1).
IP H R ER BB SO Thogersen 4 8 3 2 1 2 Polanco (W, 2-1) 2 0 1 1 3 0 Martina 2 2 0 0 1 2 Bowman 1 1 0 0 1 0 Snider (L, 1-3) 3-1/3 9 6 5 0 1 Garrick 2 5 4 4 1 0 Olivera 1/3 2 0 0 0 1 Giannetti 3-1/3 0 0 0 1 1 Thogersen pitched to two batters in the fifth inning; Polanco pitched to two batters in the seventh inning.
WP-Bowman (3), Olivera (2), Giannetti 2 (2). HBP-Hurtado (by Snider), Mitchell (by Thogersen), Bozied (by Giannetti).
Umpires-Tomaszewski (plate), Torres (first), Pittman (third). T-3:26. A-1,035
http://www.kaleo.org
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
