’Dogs get back at ’Bows
By Al chase
achase@starbulletin.com
Bob Runyon pitched out of trouble in the eighth and ninth innings to record a complete-game, 5-4 Western Athletic Conference victory for Fresno State last night in front of 1,466 fans at Murakami Stadium.
"That's a bad loss. Five straight zeros in the middle of the game," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso after glancing at the scoreboard that showed the Rainbows did not score from the third through seventh innings.
The 'Bows had Runyon in trouble with five hits in the first two innings, but the senior right-hander settled into a groove, at one time holding 16 consecutive batters hitless.
"We let Runyon settle in and we didn't compete in the middle innings." said Trapasso. "And, we made too many mistakes early. There were two fly balls to the out field we should have caught, but our players said they lost them in the twilight.
"Then (center fielder) Tim Montgomery overthrew the cutoff man, which allowed a runner to take second and later score. That was a mistake."
Hawaii also lost a run in the seventh when Nogawa was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on an infield single.
"Lane was going hard. I don't fault him, but he got past Josh (Sorge, third base coach) before he could hold him up. But you never get thrown out at the plate with your No. 4 hitter coming up."
Runyon had to survive a scare in the ninth when Nogawa doubled into the right-field corner, took third on Brent Cook's single to right and scored on Gregg Omori's sacrifice fly.
Before Runyon pitched to Omori, FSU coach Bob Bennett visited the mound.
"I asked him if he still felt strong and he said he did," said Bennett. "If I had any inkling he was tired I would have taken him out, but he still had better stuff than I could bring in from the bullpen."
Runyon then fanned Scooter Martines to end the game.
"You look at the scoreboard and they outhit us (11-9), but you don't have to get a lot of hits if you get the key hits. We've been struggling lately to get the key hit," said Bennett.
FSU's win evens the series at one victory apiece. The finale is today at 1:05 p.m.
The teams followed the same early script as they did in the opener when the Bulldogs scored first and the Rainbows immediately answered.
In the top of the second with Brian Pierce on first, Brad Harper hit a high fly to left-center field that left fielder Martines appeared to lose track of, and Montgomery, backing up the play, did not adjust in time to make the catch. Harper ended up on third with an RBI triple.
Montgomery started the bottom of the second with a single to right and moved to second on Danny Mocny's soft line single to right center. Julian Russell sacrificed the runners up a base. After Brian Bock fanned, Nogawa walked, loading the bases. Cook lined a 3-1 pitch to center, scoring Montgomery and Mocny.
Unlike opening night, Fresno State responded in the top of the third to go ahead 3-2.
Scott Beshears' line drive short-hopped the center-field fence for a one-out double. Chris Patrick followed with a first-pitch, ground single to center that scored Beshears. Montgomery's throw home missed the cutoff man, allowing Patrick to advance to second. He took third on a ground out and scored when Yamashita was called for a balk.
The Bulldogs struck again in the fifth when Patrick lined a two-out double to the left-center field alley and scored when Casey McGehee bounced a 2-2 pitch into left field for a single, extending his hitting streak to 22 consecutive games.
Beshears upped FSU's lead to 5-2 with two down in the seventh when he drove a one-ball pitch over the right-field wall for his second home run of the season.
After surrendering five hits in the first two innings, Runyon held the 'Bows until Nogawa singled to right with two outs in the seventh. Cook followed with a single to right, sending Nogawa to second. Omori was safe at first on an infield single after Beshears made a diving stop of his grounder but couldn't get the ball to second in time for a forceout. However, Patrick, the FSU shortstop, fired to Harper at the plate in time to tag out Nogawa trying to score on the play.
Hawaii reduced its deficit by one run in the bottom of the eighth when Martines was safe on a fielding error by McGehee at third, took third on a single to center by Arthur Guillen and scored on Montgomery's sacrifice fly to left.
WAC standings
|
Conference |
Overall |
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
Pct. |
| Rice |
20 |
1 |
.952 |
-- |
39 |
8 |
.830 |
| San Jose St. |
12 |
8 |
.600 |
712 |
33 |
14 |
.702 |
| Fresno St. |
12 |
8 |
.600 |
712 |
24 |
22 |
.522 |
| Nevada |
6 |
11 |
.353 |
12 |
19 |
22 |
.463 |
| Hawaii |
4 |
13 |
.235 |
14 |
15 |
28 |
.349 |
| LaTech |
4 |
17 |
.190 |
16 |
17 |
28 |
.378 |
Yesterday
Nevada 11, San Jose State 8, 11 innings
Fresno State 5, Hawaii 4
Rice 7, Louisiana Tech 6
Fresno State 5, Hawaii 4
| Fresno St. |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
| Lipsey, lf |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Nogawa, 2b |
4 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
| Riday-White, rf |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Cook, dh |
5 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
| Beshears, 2b |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
Omori, 1b |
4 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
| Patrick, ss |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Martines, lf |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| McGehee, 3b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Gilbride, rf |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Fritz, dh |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Guillen, cf |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Pierce, 1b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Montgomery, cf/rf |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Hallaian, rf/lf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Mocny, 3b |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Harper, c |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Russell, ss |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Myers, cf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Bock, c |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Honma, ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Totals |
34 |
5 |
9 |
4 |
Totals |
35 |
4 |
11 |
4 |
| Fresno State |
012 |
010 |
100 |
-- |
5 |
9 |
3 |
| Hawaii |
020 |
000 |
011 |
-- |
4 |
11 |
0 |
E -- McGehee; Harper; Myers. DP -- UH 2 (Mocny-Omori, Yamashita-Russell-Omori). LOB -- FS 4; UH 9. 2B -- Beshears; Patrick; Nogawa; Omori. 3B -- Harper. HR -- Beshears. SH -- Russell. SF -- Omori; Montgomery.
| Fresno State |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Runyon (W, 7-7) |
9.0 |
11 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
10 |
| Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Yamashita (L, 2-6) |
8.0 |
9 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
| Quaglieri |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
BK -- Yamashita. Umpires -- Kenny Bayne (plate), John De Luca (first), Jim LeBeau (third). T -- 2:21. A -- 1,466.
