Nevada deals Hawaii
another WAC series loss
But the 'Bows are beginning to
take the close losses personally
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com
The Wolf Pack delivered the big hit one more time than the Rainbows in a game that moved at glacial speed yesterday afternoon at Murakami Stadium.
Nevada rallied to edge Hawaii 5-4 before 773 fans to win the Western Athletic Conference series 2-1.
The hit that made the difference came on the first pitch from UH reliever Aaron Pribble to Carlos Madrid, Nevada's No. 9 hitter, who was at the plate with two outs in the top of the eighth inning.
"Aaron put the pitch right where we wanted it, on the inside. It was one of those freak things. When it was hit I heard Brian (Bock, UH catcher) yell, 'great pitch.' On any other day, that is a routine pop up, but it kept drifting and drifting," said UH coach Mike Trapasso.
Hawaii left fielder Derek Honma, who made a great running catch in left-center field in the sixth inning, tracked Madrid's drive back to the wall just to the left of the 365-foot sign, leaped, but came up empty.
Madrid had his second home run of the season and the Wolf Pack had broken the 4-4 tie. It was the only hit Pribble gave up in 2 2/3 innings.
The Rainbows threatened in the bottom of the eighth on Lane Nogawa's two-out, ground-rule double to left-center field and a walk to Brent Cook. But Nevada third baseman Mike Gillies, playing deep and just a couple feet off the line, fielded Gregg Omori's sharp grounder and, with a head-first dive, just beat Nogawa to the bag for the inning-ending force out.
That raised the number of Rainbows left on base to 12. Left-hander Bryan Johnson, in his fifth inning of relief, set the 'Bows down in order in the ninth.
The Rainbows left seven men on base in the first three innings against Wolf Pack starter James Holcomb, who survived despite needing 87 pitches to do so. Because Holcomb was sporadically wild, it was difficult for the 'Bows to do much except be patient and be ready if they saw a good pitch.
"If you are going to hit and run, you need a good runner on base, a batter who can handle the bat and a pitcher who is consistently around the plate," said Trapasso. "In most cases today we lacked two of the three.
"The truth is you have to come up with the big hit. We had two of them in the fifth inning, but I'm disappointed and surprised we didn't score off the left-hander (Johnson). What cost us was the four zeros at the end."
Trapasso was referring to the scoreless sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings after the Rainbows had produced their own three-run rally in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead.
The inning started when Cook singled to right to break an 0-for-12 slump. He stole second and took third when Omori's line drive to center was dropped by Josh Laidlaw.
Derek Honma, the first batter to face Johnson, hit a fly ball to medium deep right that Mike Hass caught and fired toward home plate.
Cook made a fake move down the line, then saw the ball sailing high.
"Brent looked at where their pitcher should be and he wasn't there. He was lazy, standing right behind the catcher," said Trapasso.
Cook broke for the plate, then stopped as the 6-foot-2 Johnson leaped high to snag the overthrow and get the UH co-captain in a rundown. Cook avoided the out long enough for Omori to make it to third base.
"I just had a bad weekend. I let the team down," said Cook.
Scooter Martines walked and took second on Tim Montgomery's single to left that scored Omori. Johnson balked the runners up a base and Bock brought them home with a ground single to center.
The Wolf Pack tied the score at 4 in the seventh on Hass' ground-rule double and Craig Markel's single.
The sounds of frustrated and angry ball players echoed from the tunnel behind the Rainbow dugout after the game, something not heard before this year.
"A few weeks ago they would have said, 'that's us' and accepted this, but we're slowly making subtle changes. The level of expectation is higher now," said Trapasso. "It doesn't mean we feel any better, but I'm happy to see the mindset changing."
Notes: Aaron Pribble was called for a balk in the eighth inning, his third this season, which equals the UH single-season mark, and the sixth of his career, a Rainbow record. ... The 'Bows leave Wednesday on their first mainland road trip with stops to play Louisiana Tech and Rice.
WAC standings
|
Conference |
Overall |
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
Pct. |
| Rice |
11 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
28 |
6 |
.824 |
| Fresno St. |
6 |
4 |
.600 |
412 |
18 |
16 |
.529 |
| San Jose St. |
5 |
6 |
.455 |
6 |
25 |
11 |
.694 |
| Nevada |
4 |
5 |
.444 |
6 |
16 |
16 |
.500 |
| Hawaii |
2 |
7 |
.222 |
8 |
13 |
22 |
.371 |
| LaTech |
2 |
8 |
.200 |
812 |
15 |
17 |
.469 |
Yesterday
Rice 8, San Jose State 2
Nevada 5, Hawaii 4
Today
Rice at San Jose State
Louisiana Tech at Fresno State
Nevada 5, Hawaii 4
| San Jose St. |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
| Hass rf |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Guillen cf |
4 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
| Gillies 3b |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Boudon phrf |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Markel c |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Nogawa 2b |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Cappuccilli dh |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Cook 3b |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
| Laidlaw cf |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Omori 1b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| McIntyre 1b |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Honma lf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Streelman lf |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
Martines dh |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Maguire ss |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Mntgmry rfc |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Madrid 1b |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Bock c |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Russell ss |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Totals |
37 |
5 |
10 |
5 |
Totals |
35 |
4 |
8 |
4 |
| Nevada (16-16, 4-5) |
020 |
010 |
110 |
-- |
5 |
10 |
1 |
| Hawaii (13-22, 2-7) |
010 |
030 |
000 |
-- |
4 |
8 |
0 |
E--Laidlaw. DP--Nevada 1. LOB--Nevada 9, Hawaii 12. 2B--Hass, Streelman, Guillen, Nogawa, Martines. HR--Madrida. HBP--Cook. SH--none. SF--none. SB--Guillen, Cook. CS--none.
| Nevada |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Holcomb |
4 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
| Johnson (W, 3-2) |
5 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
| Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Bauer |
613 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
6 |
| Pribble (L, 0-2) |
223 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
WP--Johnson. S--none. PB--none. BK--Johnson, Pribble. HB--none. Umpires--Randy Christal (home), Gus Rodriguez (first), Gary Montalbo(third). T--3:12. A--773.
