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Spartans keep The San Jose State Spartans set the tone they wanted in the first inning and maintained it for the final eight.
bashing ’Bows
Hawaii gives up 40 hits in
the last 2 games against SJSUBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comHawaii starter Jason Piepmeier faced just four batters and exited after throwing two balls to the fifth.
It wasn't going to be the Rainbows' day yesterday and the telltale signs appeared quickly.
The Spartans dominated the Rainbows with better hitting, pitching and defense to take the Western Athletic Conference series 2-1 with a 10-2 victory before 977 fans at Murakami Stadium.
SJSU starter Matt Durkin had his way for eight innings, playing with the Hawaii batters like they were putty.
Piepmeier did record one out when SJSU leadoff hitter Travis Becktel lined out to deep right, but that came on a pitch that was up and signaled trouble.
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Dino Quinterio followed with a line drive double down the right-field line. He danced off second base, trying to distract Piepmeier, who delivered four consecutive balls to Gabe Lopez.At that point, UH pitching coach Chad Konishi went to the mound.
"Jason's balls were up in the zone and he made zero adjustment," said Konishi. "I went out and told him we weren't going to live with that. It was like he was pitching against Florida State and just trying to throw harder and harder."
The Spartans took advantage of Piepmeier's deliberate delivery and executed a double steal. Hector Zamora then slammed a 1-2 pitch to left-center field for a two-run double.
When Piepmeier's first two pitches to Ryan Adams were balls, UH coach Mike Trapasso had seen enough and brought Bryan Lee in from the bullpen.
Lee retired Adams, but Bryan Baker singled Zamora home. The Rainbows then put their stamp of futility on the top of the first inning with a defensive play that makes one wonder what's going on.
Adam Shorsher hit a high pop up behind second base that was drifting left to right. UH shortstop Cortland Wilson, second baseman Lane Nogawa, center fielder Arthur Guillen and right fielder Kevin Gilbride all closed fast on the suspected drop zone. Wilson and Gilbride were yelling "I got it," the loudest. Nogawa veered off. Guillen put on the brakes. The ball dropped between the remaining two 'Bows for a run-scoring double, giving SJSU a 4-0 lead.
That's all Durkin, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound freshman right-hander, needed. He faced the minimum number of batters through five innings, allowing just one ball to leave the infield. The Rainbows weren't getting their bats around on Durkin's fastball, which allowed the Spartan outfielders to overshift considerably.
Center fielder Quinterio played in the left- or right-field allies depending on which side of the plate a Rainbow was swinging. That meant the outfielder closest to him could play just off the foul line which resulted in several opposite-field drives, normally doubles into the corners, being caught easily.
"Not only does Matt have a good fastball, it's hard to pick up, so we felt since it's the first time they've seen him, they might have some difficulty," said SJSU coach Sam Piraro.
"We have respect for the Hawaii batters because they do so well with two strikes, but we thought they would have to shorten their swings to put the ball in play, so we had to position ourselves accordingly."
The Rainbows' first hit came in the sixth when Gregg Omori was able to get around on an off-speed pitch and double to left. The other two hits off Durkin, a 10th-round draft pick by Arizona last summer, came in the eighth when Jason Carlson doubled and scored on Omori's single to center.
"Here's what impressed me today," said Piraro. "Matt wasn't throwing as hard as he can. He can throw 94-95 miles an hour. He decided to take a little bit off and concentrate on not walking guys. He pitched today and didn't beat himself. He gave us a nice lift with six more games coming up."
Shorsher, the SJSU catcher, said, "We were definitely on the same page. He used his good fastball to set up his other pitches.
"We were talking on the bench about how hopefully this would be Matt's coming-out party when he lets everyone know who he is. He's just a freshman, but he is going to be something."
The Spartans rattled six UH pitchers for 22 hits yesterday, giving them 40 in their two victories (.437 batting average) after being held to six singles by Chris George on Friday.
"This year we have really not gone out and beaten a guy with a great breaking pitch. You'll notice on Friday, their guy had a good breaking ball and gave us fits," said Piraro.
"But, the last two days, the guys did a great job and made some nice adjustments. It's just a matter of us remaining consistent. We are capable of being a pretty decent offensive team when we do things we spend time on."
Hawaii has today off, the opening day of the Ohana Hotels & Resorts Rainbow Easter Tournament.
"I'll take a look at Birmingham-Southern, then decided whether to start Aaron Pribble or Sean Yamashita Tuesday," Trapasso said.
WAC standings
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 6 0 1.000 -- 23 4 .852 Fresno St. 5 1 .833 1 17 12 .586 San Jose St. 5 4 .556 2 1/2 19 9 .679 Hawaii 1 5 .167 5 8 18 .308 Louisiana Tech 1 5 .167 5 13 14 .481 Nevada 0 3 .000 4 1/2 11 14 .444 Yesterday
San Jose State 10, Hawaii 2
Fresno State 3, Louisiana Tech 2
Rice 11, Nevada 3
San Jose St. 10, Hawaii 2
San Jose St. AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Brecktel rf 6 0 1 0 Guillen cf 2 1 0 0 Quintero cf 6 1 3 1 Montgmry ph 2 1 1 0 Lopez 2b 4 1 2 1 Cook 3b 1 0 0 0 Guy ph/2b 1 0 0 0 Russellph/ 3b 2 0 1 0 Zamora 3b 6 2 3 3 Nogawa 2b 2 0 0 0 Adams ss 5 1 2 0 Mocny ph/2b 2 0 1 1 Contreras ss 0 0 0 0 Martines dh 2 0 0 0 Baker 1b 4 2 3 1 Pribble ph/dh 2 0 0 0 Bergstrom 1b 1 0 0 0 Honma lf 2 0 0 0 Shorsher c 4 0 2 2 Boudon ph/lf 2 0 0 0 Bautista ph/c 1 0 0 0 Wilson ss 2 0 0 0 Kilby dh 5 2 2 1 Carlson 1 1 1 0 Corrick lf 4 1 3 0 Omori 3 0 2 0 Milton ph/lf 1 0 1 1 Gilbride 2 0 0 1 Bock 1 0 0 0 Symonds c/ph 2 0 0 0 Totals 48 10 22 10 Totals 30 2 6 2
SJSU (19-9, 5-4) 400 122 010 -- 10 22 0 Hawaii (8-18, 1-5) 000 000 011 -- 2 6 0 E--None. DP--SJSU 2. LOB--SJSU 12, Hawaii 3. 2B--Quintero, Zamora 2, Adams, Baker, Shorsher, Kilby, Carlson, Omori. HR--zamora. HBP--Cook. SH--none. SF--Gilbride. SB--Quintero, Lopez. CS--none.
SJSU IP H R ER BB SO Durkin (W, 3-1) 8.0 3 1 1 0 4 Minister 1.0 3 1 1 0 0 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Piepmeier (L, 0-2) 0.1 2 3 3 1 0 Lee 4.2 13 4 4 0 4 Gianetti 1.0 4 2 2 0 0 Yamashita 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 Yamamoto 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 Le Ducq 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 WP--none. S--none. PB--none. BK--None. HB--Durkin. Umpires--Bruce Bayne (home), Jim Garman (first), Gary Montalbo(third). T--2:39. A--2,576.
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