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Monday, February 12, 2001
Chad Giannetti would rather be a starter than a reliever. Giannetti finds groove
as ’Bows blank CardsBy Cindy Luis
Star-BulletinHe'd rather pitch out of jams of his own making than inherit someone else's.
Yesterday, the University of Hawaii's sophomore right-hander got into some trouble in the fourth and fifth innings -- and promptly got out of two bases-loaded situations, thanks to timely help from his defense.
Giannetti earned his first career victory and the Rainbows their first shutout since last May in blanking Louisville, 4-0, at Rainbow Stadium.
"I felt pretty good out there,'' said Giannetti, who scattered four hits and struck out five over six innings. "And the defense did a really good job today.
"I think we've begun putting things together, heading into the WAC.''
UH (5-4, 0-0) opens WAC play this Thursday with a three-game homestand against Nevada (2-7, 1-2). The Wolf Pack lost at Hawaii-Hilo, 5-4, yesterday at Wong Stadium.
After losing three straight by a combined score of 33-5, Hawaii's bats have reawakened the past two days. The Rainbows had 20 hits in winning the last two outings against the Cardinals (1-6).
"I didn't think (the Rainbows) would battle back like they did,'' said Louisville coach Lelo Prado, whose team won the series opener, 5-0, Friday. "They played well as a team the past two days. And if they play like they have against us, play together, they're going to have a good conference season.''
It was definitely a team effort yesterday. Nursing a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth and facing the Cardinals' top of the order, Giannetti loaded the bases by hitting Mike Hook and giving up consecutive singles to Scott Gerlach and Mike Budak.
Acting head coach Carl Furutani's visit to the mound included some advice for Giannetti: Don't rush the delivery and learn to work through the tough situations.
Giannetti struck out the next batter and closed out the inning with a foul pop to first and a grounder to short for a force out.
"I was pleased that Chad made the adjustment in his delivery,'' said Furutani. "The good thing was he didn't panic.''
Neither did Rainbow right fielder Tim Montgomery in the fifth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Montgomery made a shoe-string catch of Budak's fly to right that likely would have cleared the bases had it gotten past him.
"I had a bead on it all the way,'' said Montgomery. "It probably looked like more trouble than it was.''
In the seventh, Giannetti yielded to Wakon Childers, who was making his second appearance in three days. The senior, slowly returning after elbow surgery, had two strong innings of one-hit relief with three strikeouts.
All four of Hawaii's runs were unearned as the Rainbows capitalized on four Louisville errors.
Hawaii-Hilo 5, Nevada 4: Pinch-hitter Chad Agustin drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Vulcans (3-8, 2-1) defeated the Wolf Pack (2-7, 1-2) in a WAC game at Wong Stadium.
Rainbows 4, Cardinals 0
Louisville ab r h bi Hawaii ab r h bi Hook cf 4 2 1 1 Purtell dh 4 0 0 0 Gerlach dh 5 0 2 0 Scalabrini 3b 4 0 3 0 Budak 3b/1b 4 0 2 2 Omori 2b 4 0 0 0 De la Osa 1b 4 0 1 0 Kimura 1b 4 0 0 0 LaFountain 3b 0 0 0 0 Boudon lf 2 0 1 0 Gatti lf 4 0 0 0 Flick c 4 0 0 0 Isa c 3 0 0 0 Montgomery rf 3 0 0 0 Hall ph 1 0 0 0 Wilson ss 2 0 0 0 Fishback rf 0 0 0 0 Anderson ph 0 0 0 0 Jarboe 2b 4 1 2 2 Nogawa ss 1 0 1 0 Haley ss 0 0 0 0 Guillen cf 1 0 0 0 Totals 31 0 5 0 Totals 33 4 9 3
Louisville 000 000 000 -- 0 4 4 Hawaii 012 100 00x -- 4 9 0 E-Isa (1), Haley 3 (3).
DP-UL 2 (Williams-Haley-De la Osa, Budak-Jarboe-De La Osa), UH 1 (Omori-Kimura). LOB-UL 7, UH 8.
2B-Gerlach (1); Boudon (3). SB-Purtell (7), Boudon (5).
Louisville
ip h r er bb so Eilers (L, 0-2) 6 7 4 0 2 2 Tisdale 2 1 0 0 1 1
Hawaii
ip h r er bb so Giannetti (W, 1-0) 6 4 0 0 1 5 Childers 2 1 0 0 0 3 Lee 1 0 0 0 0 1 HBP-Hook (by Giannetti), Gerlach (by Giannetti).
Umpires-Torres (plate), LeBeau (first), Pittman (third). T-2:14. A-2,221 (tickets distributed), 923 (turnstile).
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
