DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH's Brent Cook was congratulated by his teammates after hitting a solo homer for a 1-0 lead.
Shockers The Wichita State Shockers tied the game in the fifth, then pushed across an unearned run later in the inning and made it stand up for a 4-3 victory over Hawaii at Murakami Stadium last night before a season-high crowd of 2,830.
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Rainbows
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Rainbows (7-2) squandered numerous scoring opportunities as they left 18 runners on base, one short of the record set against San Diego State in 1994.
The only inning they were retired in order was the ninth, when Mike Dennison fanned Brian Finegan and Brent Cook and got Josh Green on a grounder to first.
"I told the kids two things. One, we didn't get it done with the two-out hit and didn't execute on the bunt," said UH coach Mike Trapasso. "We get 11 walks and leave 18 on base. If we don't clutch up in situations like this we will struggle every time.
"You can still look at it this way. We lost to a top-30 team and if we had done half the things we were supposed to do, we would have blown it open. That's a positive."
The teams traded solo home runs early in the game.
Cook put the Rainbows up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning when he drove a 3-2 pitch over both left-field walls 15 feet inside the foul pole.
Cody Clark countered for the Shockers in the top of the second by slamming a 2-1 pitch from UH starter Justin Cayetano over the left-center-field fence about 375 feet from home plate.
The Rainbows loaded the bases after two were out in the second on a walk, Schafer Magana's infield single to third and another walk, but WSU starter Steve Uhlmansiek avoided trouble by retiring Cook on a fly to right.
Hawaii broke the tie in the fourth with two runs. Designated hitter Tyler Wightman walked with one out and advanced a base on Magana's ground single to right. The runners moved up a base on a wild pitch and Finegan walked to load the bases.
This time with the sacks full, Cook grounded a one-strike pitch into left field, scoring Wightman. Magana stopped at third, then scored on Green's sacrifice fly to center.
The Shockers retaliated quickly in the top of the fifth when Nick McCoola walked on five pitches and came home when Nick Blasi went the opposite way with a one-ball pitch and deposited it over the right-field wall to tie the score at 3.
WSU then loaded the bases on two UH infield errors and a walk to Logan Sorensen. Clark singled to right to bring in one run, but Green fired a one-bouncer to catcher Brian Bock, who tagged out Drew Moffitt, who elected to stand up crossing home plate rather than slide.
Hawaii loaded the bases again in the fifth as Tim Montgomery walked and Wightman singled to right. Magana failed to execute a safety squeeze, but walked to load the bases. However, WSU reliever Tommy Hottovy got Cook to bounce into a fielder's choice to end the threat.
Through the first five innings the Rainbows had stranded 11 runners on the bases. The 'Bows used the same scenario to load the bases in the sixth, but the Shockers' third pitcher, Kyle Banick, after walking Montgomery on four pitches, got Wightman to hit a grounder to third. Clark snared it and made the force at third with a diving stab at the bag.
The frustration continued for UH in the seventh inning. One-out singles by Finegan and Cook and a two-out walk to Rocky Russo, his fifth consecutive free pass, loaded the bases for the fifth time. Andrew Sansaver, hitting for Nick Ponomarenko, who had fanned three times, also struck out to end the inning.
Notes: Rocky Russo's five walks tied the UH single-game record shared by Kimo Perkins (1981) and Ryan Kato (1988). ... Freshman right-hander Rich Olsen retired nine of 10 Shockers he faced in three innings of relief work. ... Brian Finegan's single in the seventh inning extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Wichita St. 4, Hawaii 3
WSU AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Blasi, cf 5 1 1 2 Finegan ss 3 0 1 0 Green, ss 4 1 2 0 Cook, 1f 6 1 3 2 Moffitt, rf 4 0 1 0 Green, rf 5 0 0 1 Sorensen, 1b 3 0 1 0 Russo, dh 0 0 0 0 Clark, 3b 4 1 2 2 Ponomarenko, 3b 4 0 0 0 Napolitan, lf 4 0 0 0 Sansaver, 1b 1 0 0 0 DiMercurio, dh 3 0 0 0 Bock, c 5 0 1 0 Erstad dh 1 0 0 0 Montgomery, cf 3 0 0 0 McCoola, 2b 3 1 1 0 Wightman, 2b 3 1 2 0 Muich, c 4 0 0 0 Guillen, p 5 1 2 0 Magana Totals 35 4 8 4 Totals 35 3 9 3
WSU (8-1) 010 030 200 -- 4 8 0 Hawaii (7-2) 100 200 000 -- 3 9 2 E -- Finegan, Magana. LOB -- WSU 6, Hawaii 18. 2B -- Sorensen. HR -- Blasi, Clark, Cook. HBP -- Finegan. SF -- Green. SB -- Green.
WSU IP H R ER BB SO Uhlmansiek 3.1 3 3 3 6 2 Hottovy 2.1 3 0 0 3 2 Banick 1 2 0 0 1 0 Dennison 2.1 1 0 0 1 4 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Cayetano 6 7 4 3 2 6 Olsen 3 1 0 0 0 3 W -- Hottovy (1-0).
L -- Cayetano (1-1).
S -- Dennison (3).
WP -- Uhlmansiek.
HBP -- by Hottovy (Finegan).
Umpires -- HP: Ryan Arasato, 1b: Keoki Torres, 3b: Mike Evans.
T -- 3:03.
A -- 3,746.
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