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’Bows hold off The Hawaii Rainbows built a quick 5-0 lead then spent the rest of the game fending off the Nevada Wolf Pack for a 10-6 Western Athletic Conference victory last night at Murakami Stadium.
Wolf Pack
Hawaii makes an early 5-run
lead stand up for a 10-6 winBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Rainbows (13-20, 2-5) have a modest four-game winning streak, their longest of the season.
Chris George, who struck out 11 and walked four, earned his third win of the year, but needed relief help from Matt Le Ducq and Bryan Lee as Nevada (14-16, 2-5) had opportunities but left 12 men on base.
"That was winning ugly, but we haven't done that much this year," said UH coach Mike Trapasso. "There has been a noticeable difference the last four games and I hope the confidence continues to grow. I think on offense we're figuring it out, going out there relaxed and swinging (the bats) with more aggressiveness."
The Rainbows took advantage of an error by Nevada first baseman Curtis Wickwire to score three unearned runs in the second inning.
Gregg Omori and Derek Honma drew walks on full counts from Nevada starter Darrell Rasner to start the inning. Scooter Martines' sacrifice bunt attempt was right back to Rasner, who threw to third in time to force Omori. Kevin Gilbride struck out swinging on three consecutive pitches.
Brian Bock then bounced a 2-1 pitch to Wickwire, who bobbled the short hop, then couldn't pick the ball up as Bock reached first, loading the bases. Julian Russell hit Rasner's first pitch off the right-center field wall, scoring all three teammates.
"It was just like what the coaches have said all along, see ball, hit ball," said Russell. "He (Rasner) had been throwing a lot of first-pitch fastballs and I'm the number nine hitter."
Russell got his first-pitch fastball, a little up and little out.
"I just hit it where it was pitched," the UH shortstop said.
Hawaii made use of more Wolf Pack generosity in the third inning to score two more runs.
Lane Nogawa led off with a single to center and took second on Omori's one-out groundout. Honma then hit a Baltimore chop toward short that Matt Maguire couldn't field. Nogawa moved to third, then scored on a wild pitch by Rasner as Honma took second. Martines hit a grounder to second baseman Ryan Strain, who threw wide of first, allowing Honma to score.
The five-run lead all but evaporated in the top of the fourth as George walked Mike Gilles to open the inning, then hit Tony Cappuccilli with the next pitch on his way to allowing four runs.
"Chris really was in control the first three innings, but we got those five runs and I think he lost focus," Trapasso said.
UH got one run back in the bottom of the inning, though, and added three more in the fifth for a 9-4 lead.
The Wolf Pack scored single runs in the sixth and seventh and Bock hit his third home run of the season in the seventh to complete the scoring.
Notes: Tonight is Military Appreciation Night. All members of the armed services with a valid military ID can purchase a general admission ticket for the red section for $1.
Hawaii 10, Nevada 6
Nevada AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Hass, rf 4 0 0 0 Guillen, cf 4 1 2 1 Strain, 2b 2 0 0 0 Nogawa, 2b 5 1 2 1 Madrid, 2b 2 0 0 0 Cook, 3b 5 0 0 0 Gillies, 3b 3 2 1 0 Omori, 1b 3 0 1 0 Cappuccilli, dh 1 1 0 0 Honma, lf 4 3 2 0 Streelman, lf 5 0 0 0 Martines, dh 4 2 0 0 Markel, c 4 2 2 2 Gilbride, rf 4 1 1 1 Wickwire, 1b 1 0 0 0 Bock, c 4 2 1 1 McIntyre, 1b 4 0 3 1 Russell, ss 3 0 1 3 Laidlaw, cf 5 1 2 2 George, p 0 0 0 0 Maguire, ss 5 0 1 1 Le Ducq, p 0 0 0 0 Rasner, p 0 0 0 0 Lee, p 0 0 0 0 Norris, p 0 0 0 0 Totals 36 6 9 6 Totals 36 10 10 7
Nevada (14-16, 2-5) 000 401 100 -- 6 9 4 Hawaii (13-20, 2-5) 032 130 10x -- 10 10 2 E -- Strain, Madrid, Gillies, Wickwire, Cook, Gilbride. DP -- Nevada, Hawaii. LOB -- Nevada 12, Hawaii 8. 2B -- Markel (2), Laidlaw, Guillen, Honma, Russell. HR -- Bock. HBP -- Hass, Cappuccilli, Markel. SH -- Madrid. SB -- Cappuccilli, Nogawa. CS -- Guillen.
Nevada IP H R ER BB SO Rasner (L, 4-4) 4.2 8 9 3 4 5 Norris 3.1 2 1 1 2 5 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO George (W, 3-2) 6.2 7 6 6 4 11 Le Ducq 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 Lee (S, 2) 1.1 1 0 0 0 3 WP -- George. HBP -- by George (Cappuccilli), by George (Markel), by Le Ducq (Hass). BK -- George. PB -- Bock. Umpires -- Gus Rodriguez (home), Gary Montalbo (first), Randy Christal (third).
T -- 3:30. A -- 763.
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