HOUSTON >> If you have two bad innings against the Rice Owls, it's a good bet you will come out on the short end of the score after nine. ’Bows lose opener
to No. 3 RiceFrom staff and wire reports
That's what happened to the Hawaii baseball team last night before 2,005 fans at Reckling Park.
A four-run fourth and a three-run fifth inning were all the No. 3-ranked Owls needed to defeat Hawaii, 9-4, in the opener of a three-game Western Athletic Conference series.
The Rainbows (14-25, 3-10) had scratched out a 3-2 lead after three innings, due in part to a pair of gifts from the Owls (33-8, 15-1 WAC).
Brent Cook singled home Arthur Guillen and later scored on a fielding error by Rice second baseman Eric Arnold. UH got another run in the third when Gregg Omori singled, moved to third on Scooter Martines' double into the left-field corner and scored on a wild pitch by Rice starter Steven Herce.
However, Rainbow starter Chris George struggled. The junior right-hander had help in the first and third innings when his defense turned double plays. He had no such luck in the fourth.
Hunter Brown singled to center, took second on a ground out and, after Dane Bubela walked on a full count, scored on A.J. Porfirio's single to left. George walked pinch hitter Mike Lorsbach on a full count to load the bases.
Chris Kolkhorst's sacrifice fly scored Bubela to break a 3-3 tie. Porfirio and Lorsbach crossed home plate on singles by Austin Davis and Arnold. When George walked Vincent Sinisi on a full count, UH coach Mike Trapasso brought Bryan Lee in from the bullpen and he retired Brown on a first-pitch fly to left.
"Chris was empty from the first inning. He didn't have a fresh arm. It was just a matter of time before they scored," said Trapasso. "He had a couple of tough calls in the fourth on guys we thought he had struck out.
"The real story is we just got beat. We had two bad innings on the mound and that was the game."
The Owls roughed up Lee in the fifth for four hits, including Porfirio's triple, and three more runs to give Herce a comfortable cushion.
"Bryan, who hasn't pitched in a while, came in trying to see how hard he could throw and he had no command in the fifth. He got into trouble by overthrowing and you can't throw it by these guys," said Trapasso. "He settled down in the sixth and had a good inning."
Freshman right-hander Jason Piepmeier held the Owls scoreless over the last two innings.
Meanwhile, Herce cruised by getting the Rainbows to hit ground balls, retiring 13 of the next 14 batters after Martines' hit in the third.
Omori's two-out double to left-center field in the eighth broke the spell and he scored Hawaii's final run when Martines singled to center.
"Rice is very impressive physically and they were very business-like," said Trapasso. "We fought and battled and played pretty good defense."
WAC standings
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 14 1 .933 -- 32 8 .800 San Jose St. 9 6 .600 5 30 12 .714 Fresno St. 8 7 .533 6 20 20 .500 Nevada 4 8 .333 8 1/2 16 19 .457 LaTech 4 11 .267 10 17 22 .436 Hawaii 3 9 .250 9 1/2 14 24 .368 Yesterday
Rice 9, Hawaii 4
Today
Hawaii at Rice, 2 p.m. Hawaii time
San Jose State at Louisiana Tech
Nevada at Fresno State
Rice 9, Hawaii 4
Hawaii AB R H BI Rice AB R H BI Guillen cf 4 1 0 0 Kolkhorst lf 4 1 2 3 Nogawa 2b 3 0 0 0 Davis rf 5 0 2 1 Cook 3b 4 1 1 1 Arnold 2b 5 0 2 1 Omori 1b 3 2 2 0 Sinisi 1b 2 0 0 0 Martines lf 4 0 3 1 Brown 3b 4 1 1 0 Montgomery rf 4 0 0 0 Cruz ph 1 0 0 0 Russell ss 4 0 0 0 Janish ss/3b 4 1 1 0 Mocny dh 4 0 0 0 Bubela dh/ss 3 3 2 0 Bock c 4 0 2 0 Porfirio cf 4 2 3 3 Ruchti c 1 0 0 0 Lorsbach ph 0 1 0 0 Blackinton c 2 0 1 0 Totals 34 4 8 2 Totals 35 9 14 8
Hawaii 201 000 010 -- 4 8 2 Rice 110 430 00x -- 9 14 2 E--Russell 2, Arnold, Herce. DP--Hawaii 4 (George-Russell-Omori, Bock-Nogawa, Lee-Russell-Omori, Cook-Nogawa-Omori), Rice 1 (Arnold-Janish-Sinisi). LOB--Hawaii 6, Rice 8. 2B--Omori, Martines, Arnold, Bubela. 3B--Porfirio. HR--Kolkhorst. SH--Nogawa. SF--Kolkhorst. CS--Davis.
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO George (L, 4-3) 3 2/3 9 6 6 4 3 Lee 2 1/3 4 3 3 0 0 Piepmeier 2 1 0 0 1 1 Rice IP H R ER BB SO Herce (W, 9-1) 9 8 4 3 2 7 WP--George, Herce. Umpires--Dan Marple (plate), Bob Charmo (first), Bruce Siegel (third).
T--2:21. A--2,005.
UH Athletics
