Coleman
leads ’Bows past
Vulcans
UH's offense musters 17 hits
in support of the pitcher's
13 strikeout performance
By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin
Jeff Coleman walks out to the mound for each start thinking he will pitch a no-hitter.
Gregg Omori likes to key in on what he thinks the next pitch will be, especially when the count is in his favor.
Coleman did not pitch a no-no last night as the University of Hawaii defeated the University of Hawaii at Hilo, 11-2, before a crowd of 586 in the first of three Western Athletic Conference games this weekend at Rainbow Stadium. But the Rainbows'right-hander won his team-leading eighth game of 2001, struck out a season-high 13 batters and walked no one.
Omori can thank his teammates for setting an appealing table. He ripped bases-clearing doubles to the left- and right-field alleys in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.
His six runs batted in were more than enough support for Coleman, who pitched his third complete game of the season.
Whether ahead or behind on the scoreboard, Coleman tries to keep the same game plan.
"I try to approach every situation like there was a man on third base and a hit will score him," Coleman said.
"I do that every time, even starting an inning. When they got the first hit, I said 'There goes the no-hitter.' When they got the first run, I said 'There goes the shutout.'
"So tonight, it was just go for the win."
After Mike Hobbs doubled on Coleman's second pitch and scored when Kaliko Oligo singled on his fourth pitch, going for the win was all that was left.
"They were bad pitches, down the middle," Coleman said.
He allowed just five hits the rest of the game. His slider and fastball dominated the Vulcans.
The Rainbows (27-27, 14-20) finally broke through against UHH (5-43, 3-31 WAC) starter Zeb Watts in the middle innings.
Chad Boudon's one-out single in the fifth started the Rainbows' comeback. After fanning Lane Nogawa, Watts fell behind on the count (3-1) to Tim Montgomery. He lined the fifth pitch from Watts over the left-field wall at the 356-foot sign to put UH ahead, 2-1.
It was Montgomery's third home run of the season, one filled with many frustrating days for the 6-foot-2 right fielder.
"I'm not hitting like I would like to, but I have to realize I should just be happy I'm getting this much (playing) time as a freshman," Montgomery said. "I try to make the best of it by hanging in there."
Omori doubled in the sixth and scored on Brian Bock's single, then drove in six of the last eight UH runs over the next two innings.
"It's hard to explain. Everything seemed to go my way," said Omori. "There are some nights you can't buy a hit. It seemed like every pitch I was looking for, thinking they were going to throw, was in the right spot."
Note: The Rainbow Stadium box office and gates will open at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, a half hour earlier than normal, for Les Murakami Night.
HAWAII 11, HAWAII-HILO 2
At Rainbow Stadium
| HAWAII-HILO |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
HAWAII |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
| Hobbs lf |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Jackson cf |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
| Oligo rf |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Purtell ss |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| Rooke cf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Omori dh |
5 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
| Park 1b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Scalabrini 3b |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Sooto dh |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Kimura 1b |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Chu ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Bock c |
5 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
| Rayl ss |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Boudon lf |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Dudoit 3b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Nogawa 2b |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Jinbo c |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Montgomery rf |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| Kaneshiro 2b |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
| Agustin ph/2b |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Totals |
32 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
Totals |
40 |
11 |
17 |
11 |
| Hawaii-Hilo |
100 |
000 |
001 |
-- |
2 |
7 |
3 |
| Hawaii |
000 |
021 |
53x |
-- |
11 |
17 |
2 |
E--Rayl, Kaneshiro, Agustin, Scalabrini, Nogawa. DP--Hawaii-Hilo 1. LOB--Hawaii 7, Hawaii-Hilo 4. 2B--Hobbs, Oligo, Purtell, Omori. HR--Montgomery. SB--Boudon. CS--Oligo, Jackson, Purtell. SH--Rayl.
| HAWAII-HILO |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| ZWatts (L, 0-8) |
6 |
8 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
| SReyes |
1 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
| SSuzuki |
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
| HAWAII |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| JColeman (W, 8-6) |
9 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
13 |
BK--Watts, Reyes. Umpires--Montalbo (plate), Tomaszewski (first), LeBeau (third).
T--2:25. A--2,065.
