Rainbows beat Chris George pitched eight solid innings for Hawaii last night and received the kind of offensive support starting pitchers dream of every time they take the mound.
Bruins to win
season opener
UH's George holds UCLA in
check after a shaky first inningBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Rainbows opened the 2003 campaign at Murakami Stadium and sent 2,120 fans home happy with an 11-5 victory over the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-10.
George walked two and struck out six. After a shaky start, the senior right-hander retired the final 16 batters he faced.
The Rainbows collected 14 hits, including a double and triple among Isaac Omura's three hits. The freshman second baseman knocked in four runs, three coming on a triple that gave George a comfortable cushion.
"I was just thinking (UCLA reliever Adam Simon) would be throwing something to get ahead. He had been a little inconsistent. I think the pitch was a mistake," said Omura, who said the pitch was a fastball right down the middle.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Brian Finegan celebrated after scoring a run against UCLA last night. The Rainbows beat the Bruins 11-5 to win their first game of the season.
"I was just looking for something to drive. It was sweet."
Senior catcher Brian Bock also had three hits and brought two teammates home.
Every starter had a hit except Schafer Magana, but it was his sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the fourth inning that moved two UH runners into scoring position. They eventually crossed the plate to give the Rainbows a lead they would not relinquish.
Freshman right-hander Guy McDowell pitched a perfect ninth for UH.
"We're happy, but we still have a lot of work to do, especially against a team like UCLA," said UH coach Mike Trapasso. "I think Chris George's last five innings were as good as he can pitch. Everything was down, right at the catcher's cup."
The game started with a bang.
UCLA (2-3) loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning as Matt Thayer walked, took second on Casey Janssen's line single to left-center field and moved to third when Wes Whisler reached safely on third baseman Magana's throwing error.
George fanned the next two Bruins, but Chris Denove lined a double off the center-field wall to clear the bases. The inning ended when Denove was thrown out trying to take third on the throw to the plate.
Hawaii responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Magana was hit by Whisler's first pitch, advanced to third on Omura's two-strike double down the left-field line and scored when Brett McMillan misplayed the ball in left.
After Whisler fanned Brent Cook, Joshua Green beat out a slow roller to third and took second on a throwing error by UCLA third baseman Sean Carpenter as Omura took third. Rocky Russo beat out a high chopper to third, loading the bases.
Nick Ponomarenko lined a 1-1 pitch to center, scoring Omura and Green and, on the same count, Bock bounced a single through the hole to left, scoring Russo for a 4-3 UH lead.
The Bruins quickly regained the lead in the top of the second when Preston Griffin singled, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Ryan McCarthy's first-pitch single to center. McCarthy took second on the throw to the plate and scored on Janssen's two-out single to left.
George escaped a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the third inning by inducing McCarthy to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. That ended the first phase of George's game.
"It was all about me getting settled, mixing up speeds and keeping the ball down," said George, who expects to go nine innings every time he takes the mound.
UCLA coach Gary Adams said, "Their pitcher kept hanging in there and did a great job."
The Rainbow bats were quiet for two innings, but produced four singles and two runs. Tim Montgomery and Brian Finegan singled to open the fourth. Magana's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners and Montgomery scored on Omura's sacrifice fly to left that McMillan caught with a backhand stab as he crossed into foul territory, but left him with little chance of making a strong throw to the plate.
Finegan moved to third on Cook's infield single that McMillan, UCLA's shortstop, prevented from going into center field with a diving stop. Green then took two pitches on the outside corner for strikes before sending a soft liner to left to bring Finegan home, putting the 'Bows in front 6-5.
"I was thinking deep contact. To hit the ball hard to the opposite field, you have to hit inside the body. You have to wait on the pitch," said Green. "I just threw my hands out and the ball got through. Earlier, I was looking for a ball I could drive alley to alley."
The Rainbows put four more runs on the board in the fifth. Ponomarenko walked and Bock singled to left center to finish Whisler's time on the mound.
Simon hit Montgomery with a one-strike pitch to load the bases, then walked Finegan to force home Ponomarenko. With one down, Omura drilled Simon's first pitch off the left-center field for a three-run triple and a 10-5 UH lead.
Hawaii 11, UCLA 5
UCLA AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Thayer cf 3 1 0 0 Magana 3b 3 1 0 0 Janssen 1b 4 1 2 1 Omura 2b 4 1 3 4 Whisler p/dh 4 1 0 0 Cook 1f 4 1 1 0 Susdorf rf 4 0 0 0 Green rf 3 1 2 1 McMillan 1f 3 0 0 0 Russo dh 5 1 1 0 Denove c 4 0 2 3 Ponomarenko 1b 2 1 1 2 Griffin 2b 4 1 2 0 Sansaver ph/1b 0 0 0 0 McCarthy ss 4 1 1 1 Bock c 5 1 3 2 Carpenter 3b 3 0 0 0 Montgomery cf 3 2 2 0 Finegan ss 4 2 1 1 Totals 33 5 7 5 Totals 33 11 14 10
UCLA (2-3) 320 000 000 -- 5 7 2 Hawaii (1-0) 400 240 01X -- 11 14 1 E -- McMillan, Carpenter, Magana. DP -- UCLA 1, Hawaii 1. LOB -- UCLA 3, Hawaii 10. 2B -- Denove, Omura, Montgomery. 3B -- Omura. SH -- Magana. SF -- Omura. SB -- Janssen. CS -- Green.
UCLA IP H R ER BB SO Whisler (0-1) 4 11 8 7 1 2 Simon 4 3 3 3 5 4 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO George (1-0) 8 7 5 2 2 6 McDowell 1 0 0 0 0 1 PB -- Bock. HB -- Magana (by Whisler), Montgomery (by Simon), Cook (by Simon), Sansaver (by Simon). Umpires -- N/A. T -- 2:43. A -- 2,120.
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