Rainbows allow
Hornets to leave
with series win
Hawaii pounds out more hits,
but not at the right times
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com
For a few moments yesterday it looked like the Hawaii baseball team's offense was ready to come off life support.
The Rainbows bunched three hits and a walk to score two second-inning runs, the only time they have scored first in seven games this year.
Sorry, it was a false alarm.
Cal State Sacramento got four of their six hits in the fourth inning and took advantage of shoddy UH fielding on the way to a 5-3 victory in front of 958 fans at Murakami Stadium. The win also gave the Hornets a 2-1 victory in the three-game series.
The Rainbows outhit the Hornets, 10-6, but couldn't come up with the timely hit that has eluded them so far this season.
UH starter Ricky Bauer pitched a perfect game for the first four innings by doing what he didn't do against Florida State. He kept his pitches down, especially when he was ahead in the count.
His slider was effective as a strikeout pitch, as he fanned seven Hornets, five in the first four innings.
"The coaches told me I wasn't getting my 0-2 pitch down in the last game. If you hang 'em, they'll bang 'em," Bauer said.
Unfortunately, his pitches started coming up in the fifth. Mario Celillo and Casey Fuller cracked back-to-back doubles for the first CSUS run. Bret LeVier's high drive to the warning track in left center field also went for a double when center fielder Arthur Guillen couldn't hold on to the ball attempting a running, diving catch.
"That's a ball Art Guillen's gotta catch. Last night and today he drops two fly balls out there that normally he is going to catch," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.
Ahead 2-1 with no outs, Trapasso brought his infield in and it worked when Matt Wilson grounded to third and Brent Cook threw him out as the runners held.
However, when Danny Hall also grounded to third, Fuller broke for home. He and LeVier both scored when Cook's throw was high and wide of catcher Grady Symonds. Hall, who ended up on second base, stole third and scored CSUS's fourth run on Tim Reimer's single to left.
That's all the Hornets needed as starter Chris Kinsey and reliever Dusty Decker had the right pitches whenever the Rainbows (2-5) threatened.
The only exception came in the seventh when Gregg Omori singled home Guillen, who had reached base on a one-out double and stole third.
Even the Hornets' final run was the result of a communication breakdown. Celillo doubled to left-center with one out in the sixth, but he should have been out on the previous pitch. He had popped a ball up a couple of feet foul in front of the plate that Bauer and Symonds let drop and bounce foul.
Fuller was intentionally walked. LeVier hit a sharp grounder to Cook, who dropped the ball and recovered, but was only able to get the force out at second. The Hornets then worked the delayed double steal with Celillo scoring easily.
"It's just disappointing that defensively the breakdowns cost us the game," Trapasso said. "... If we pitched the way we have all series, we'll be OK the rest of the year, but we can't make defensive plays like that."
The UH coach agrees his hitters are putting too much pressure on themselves, but said he thought the UH batters were beginning to get better swings the last three or four innings.
"A lot of what we're going to do offensively centers on Gregg Omori, and I thought his last couple of times were better. He was a little more comfortable today than yesterday when he said he just wasn't seeing the ball well," said Trapasso.
"We're not going to hit this bad. Our key is to not fall into a psychology of failure. We're capable of playing a lot better than what we played this weekend."
Trapasso juggled the lineup yesterday. He put Scooter Martines, the designated hitter the first six games, in left field and made Danny Mocny the DH. They each had two hits.
Guillen was dropped from leadoff to the ninth spot, and Lane Nogawa, one of the more consistent hitters so far, made the reverse move. Guillen was 1-for-3 and Nogawa 1-for-5.
"I think we need to bless the leadoff spot," Trapasso said.
Up next for the Rainbows is a three-game series with UCLA that begins Friday night.
Sacramento St. 5, Hawaii 3
| Sac. St. |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
| Reimer cf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Nogawa 2b |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Rincon 2b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Cook 3b |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Kinsey p/dh |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Omori 1b |
5 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
| Celillo rf |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
Martinez lf |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Fuller lf |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Wilson ss |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Levier 3b |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Mocny df |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
| Wilson c |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Symonds c |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Gill 1b |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Bock ph/c |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Barba ss |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Gilbride rf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Decker p |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Guillen cf |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Bauer p |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Yamashita p |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Totals |
32 |
5 |
6 |
2 |
Totals |
34 |
3 |
10 |
3 |
| Sac. St. |
000 |
041 |
100 |
-- |
5 |
6 |
1 |
| Hawaii |
020 |
000 |
100 |
-- |
3 |
10 |
1 |
E--Kinsy, Cook DP--Sac. St. 2, Hawaii 2. LOB--Sac. St. 3, Hawaii 10. 2B--Celillo 2, Fuller, LeVier, Gilbride. SB--Celillo, Levier, Gill, Guillen.
| Sacramento St. |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Kinsey (W, 1-0) |
6.2 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Decker |
2.1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Bauer (L, 0-2) |
6.0 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
| Yamashita |
3.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
WP--Kinsey. HBP--by Kinsey (Mocny), by Decker (Wilson). Umpires--Jim LeBeau (plate), Don Greman (first), Gary Montalbo (third).
T--2:43. A--958.
