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Saturday, March 10, 2001

Too much Rice for
’Bows again

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By Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-Bulletin

No. 3 Rice didn't do its damage as quickly as in the series opener, but the end result was basically the same.

The Western Athletic Conference-leading Owls (18-3, 8-0) remained unbeaten in conference play, crushing Hawaii for the second straight night at Rainbow Stadium, this time 13-2, last night.

A crowd of 1,340 watched Hawaii (7-13, 2-9 WAC) drop its ninth straight game, tying a school record for losses. The series finale is today at 1:05 p.m.

Unlike Thursday night's game, in which the Rainbows fell in a deep hole early in a 10-4 loss, they had the majority of the opportunities early and were trailing only 3-2 after four innings.

"We played well and we hung in there, it was a game at that stage," Hawaii acting head coach Carl Furutani said.

Starting pitcher Sean Yamashita (0-3) did struggle a bit for the Rainbows in the top of the first inning, surrendering two hits, a walk and committing a throwing error, which put Hawaii in a 3-0 hole. But Yamashita held Rice scoreless in his next three innings of work.

In the bottom of the second, Brian Bock hit a two-out single to get one run back for the Rainbows. In the third, Hawaii got its second run to pull within one after Danny Kimura hit a sharp RBI single between the third baseman and shortstop.

In both innings, however, the Rainbows eventually ended up stranding two runners on the bases. The situation in the third was particularly frustrating for Hawaii, as Kimura's hit put men on first and second with no outs.

"We're pressing, we didn't get certain things done, but when you're in a slump like this, things happen like that," Furutani said. "When you come out here everyday and play hard, you're going to make (the losing streak) turn and go the other way."

In the fifth, the Owls exploded for five runs, sending all nine of their batters to the plate. Yamashita faced six of them, but was basically relegated to an early shower after the fifth, when Hunter Brown crushed a three-run homer to make the score 7-2.

Though six Rice players drove in a run and three had multiple-hit games, Brown's lone hit was -- literally and figuratively -- by far the biggest blow.

"I was happy with the effort and the way we swung the bat," Rice coach Wayne Graham said.

Owls starter Jon Skaggs (5-0) pitched seven effective, though erratic innings in picking up the victory. He gave up six hits, struck out seven and walked five.

Owls 13, Rainbows 2

Rice	ab	r	h	bi	Hawaii	ab	r	h	bi
Cruz 2b	6	2	2	0	Purtell cf	3	1	0	0
Davis lf	5	1	2	0	Anderson	1	0	0	0
Arnold dh	4	2	0	1	Nogawa	3	0	1	0
Roman 1b	4	2	1	1	Kimura	3	0	1	1
Brown 3b	4	3	1	3	Boudon	3	0	0	0
Porfirio cf	3	2	3	1	Scalabrini	4	1	2	0
Lorsbach rf	4	1	1	1	Pribble	3	0	0	0
Fox ss	5	0	0	1	Gilbride	3	0	0	0
Ghutzman c	3	0	0	0	Bock	2	0	2	1
Blackinton c	1	0	1	1	Flick	1	0	0	0
Skaggs p	0	0	0	0	Honma	1	0	0	0
Jacobson p	0	0	0	0	Guillen	2	0	0	0
Totals	39	13	11	9	Montgomer	2	0	0	0
					Yamashita	0	0	0	0
					Giannetti p	0	0	0	0
					Quaglieri p	0	0	0	0
					Totals	31	2	6	2

Rice	300	050	311 -- 13	11	3
Hawaii	011	000	000 -- 2	6	3

E-Fox (9), Ghutzman 2 (2), Purtell (2), Scalabrini (4), Yamashita (2).

DP-Rice 2. LOB-Rice 6, UH 8.

2B-Cruz 2 (7), Davis (5), Porfirio (3), Lorsbach (4), Blackinton (1), Bock (4). HR-Brown (3).

SB-Porfirio (4), Purtell (7), Scalabrini (8).CS-Nogawa (1).

Rice

	ip	h	r	er	bb	so
Skaggs (W, 5-0)	7	6	2	1	5	7
Jacobson	2	0	0	0	0	2

Hawaii

	ip	h	r	er	bb	so
Yamashita (L, 0-3)	4 1/3	6	8	6	4	3
Giannetti	2	2	3	1	1	1
Quaglieri	2 2/3	3	2	2	0	2

PB-Bock (4), Flick (1).

HBP-Pribble (by Skaggs), Lorsbach (by Giannetti).

Umpires-Montalbo (plate), Benson (first), Speck (third). T-3:14. A-1,340.

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UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii