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Saturday, March 25, 2000
Pitching is
the ‘Key’ to the
Spartans’ win
Left-hander Chris Key scatters
seven hits as San Jose State thumps
the Rainbows, 9-325th Easter Tournament Schedule
By Al Chase
Star-BulletinCoaches try to make good use of advance knowledge in preparing a team for the next adversary.
The San Jose State Spartans heeded what head coach Sam Piraro preached to defeat the University of Hawaii, 9-3, last night at Rainbow Stadium.
The loss dropped the Rainbows into a first-place tie in the Western Athletic Conference with Fresno State as the Bulldogs routed visiting Rice, 15-1.
All week long UH batting coach Dave Murakami told his hitters they had to use the opposite field when they faced Chris Key.
The left-handed Key is a control, spot pitcher, a 'thumber' in baseball language. He does not overpower batters. His offerings look very enticing, but success only comes with smart hitting.
"Guys like (Patrick) Scalabrini were trying to hit it to the dorms and that's what that kind of pitcher wants you to do," Murakami said.
"Key mixed his speeds good all game. He never threw the same speed twice in a row," said Scooter Martines, whose two hits were to right field."He put the ball where he wanted us to hit it to his defenders," Kenn Wakakuwa said.
The Spartans recorded 20 outs on 19 ground balls. Five went to third base and nine to shortstop.
"We pulled everything, only used half the infield," said Rainbow head coach Les Murakami. "We hit balls hard but they didn't have eyes and how many went to third base and shortstop.
"It's the worst game we have played since Santa Clara (12-11 loss Feb. 19)."
The Rainbows made four errors that led to four unearned runs. The Spartans made three errors.
"We couldn't play catch. Our errors were more disastrous because every time one happened, they scored," Les Murakami said.
Piraro had the Spartan hitters employ a similar piece of advice against UH starter Jamie Aloy.
"Aloy is an outstanding pitcher and we tried to use the middle of the field as much as we could against him," Piraro said. "Aloy is the kind of guy who can make you pull balls and we tried to wait as long as we could. I thought our guys did an outstanding job against him."
The Spartans (4-3 WAC, 17-8 overall) took the lead for good with a three-run fourth inning.
Singles by Brandon Macchi, Mike Gray and Tony Tognetti produced one run. Another scored on a groundout. Brian Stream's single to short brought in the third.
Throwing errors by second baseman Lane Nogawa on a potential double play ball and Scalabrini's wide throw to first base figured prominently in San Jose State's two-run fifth inning.
"They did a good job of making contact. Jamie got ground balls like he's supposed to, but they were tough plays," said UH pitching coach Carl Furutani.
The Rainbows (7-3, 16-13) held a brief 2-1 lead, but left the bases loaded in the third.
Key then retired 10 consecutive Rainbows before an error broke the streak. He closed out the game with seven consecutive outs.
"We broke down one inning defensively and Chris kind of held us together," Piraro said.
"He's not afraid to show his pitches early in a game. He's not afraid to throw everything he's got in the first inning or two.
"In his mind he's saying you better watch out for this and you better watch out for this. He has to locate.
"He doesn't get rattled and you can't teach that."
SPARTANS 9, RAINBOWS 3
RealAudio: Live 'Net broadcast Click Here
SAN JOSE ST. AB R H BI HAWAII AB R H BI Stream 2b 4 2 3 1 Takamori cf 4 0 0 0 Brucker cf 4 0 1 1 Nogawa 2b 4 0 0 0 Ruiz lf 5 2 3 1 Martines lf 4 1 2 0 Fagan 1b 4 1 2 0 Kimura 1b 3 0 0 0 Macchi rf 5 1 1 0 Gilbride 1b 1 0 0 0 Gray dh 5 2 2 0 Wakakuwa c 4 1 2 1 Tognetti 3b 4 1 2 1 Bock dh 4 0 1 0 Shorsher c 4 0 0 0 Mitchell rf 4 0 0 0 Patchett ss 4 0 0 1 Scalabrini 3b 4 1 0 1 Pico ss 3 0 2 0 Totals 39 9 14 5 Totals 35 3 7 2
San Jose State 100 320 102 - 9 14 3 Hawaii 000 000 100 - 3 7 4 E-Stream (7), Tognetti 2 (9), Nogawa (9), Wakakuwa (5), Scalabrini (6), Pico (5).
DP-San Jose State 1 (Stream-Patchett-Fagan), Hawaii 3 (Pico-Nogawa-Kimura 2, Pico-Nogawa-Gilbride). LOB-SJS 6, UH 5.
2B-Ruiz (7), Wakakuwa (3) 3B-Stream (1), Martines (2). SB-Ruiz (4), Fagan (5), Gray (2), Tognetti (4). SH-Brucker (11).
San Jose State
IP H R ER BB SO Key (W, 6-0) 9 7 3 1 0 3
Hawaii
IP H R ER BB SO Aloy (L, 4-2) 7 10 7 5 1 1 Lee 1 1 0 0 0 0 Jones 1 3 2 1 0 1 HBP-Stream (by Aloy).
Umpires-Henderson (plate), Tomaszewski (first), Asmus (third). T-2:15. A-1,287.
WAC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct. Hawaii 7 3 .700 16 13 .552 Fresno State 7 3 .700 22 7 .759 San Jose State 4 3 .571 17 8 .680 Rice 4 6 .400 14 15 .483 Hawaii-Hilo 4 8 .333 13 18 .419 Texas Christian 3 6 .333 10 19 .345 Yesterday's results
San Jose State 9, Hawaii 3
Fresno State 15, Rice 1
Texas Christian 5, Texas Wesleyan 4 (1st)
Texas Christian 7, Texas Wesleyan 2 (2nd)Today's games
San Jose State at Hawaii, 3:05 p.m.
Rice at Fresno State
Texas Wesleyan at Texas Christian
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
