SAN FRANCISCO >> Good pitching wins baseball games. Pitching leads UH past Dons
From staff and wire services
That is a long-held baseball adage and the Hawaii Rainbows proved its soundness with the efforts of a quartet of pitchers in the first road game of the season against the San Francisco Dons.
Keahi Rawlins, Nick Ponomarenko, Rich Olsen and Clary Carlsen held the Dons to one unearned run and a so-so UH offense contributed just enough for a 4-1 victory at Benedetti Diamond on the USF campus.
'That's exactly what it was, good pitching," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso. "We were not very good offensively today. If you can pitch well on the road, then a victory is a good victory no matter how ugly it might be."
The Dons (4-12) scored their run in the first inning when Maui High product Royce Fukuroku singled, took second on an error by UH second baseman Isaac Omura, stole third and continued home on a throwing error by UH catcher Brian Bock.
Hawaii took a 2-1 lead in the second when Jaziel Mendoza singled for the 'Bows first hit, took second on Bock's sacrifice bunt and scored when Omura bounced a single up the middle. Omura scored from first when USF left fielder Joe Jacobitz misplayed Brent Cook's two-out fly ball.
The score remained unchanged over the next four innings. The Rainbows had their chances, having a runner at third with two outs in the fifth, a runner at third with one out in the sixth and the first two batters on base with walks to start the seventh. The timely hit was missing despite playing in a park with invitingly short fences down both foul lines.
"It all started with a less than stellar batting practice," said Trapasso. "We were really letting the dimensions dictate our actions.
"Everyone was just trying to jack balls out of the ball park. You can't let the dimensions dictate the approach you take on offense. Our approach, which has been successful, is to be patient, let the ball travel and hit to all fields.
"One of our players said during the game that we were in a dog fight. I told them after the game it was between a couple of poodles."
Josh Green provided the Rainbows with a little insurance with a solo home run, his first of the season, in the eighth inning.
Bock, who reached first with a one-out single in the ninth, scored when USF third baseman Khamis Zananiri threw wildly past first base on Omura's bunt single.
"Hopefully, it was a lesson learned today," said Trapasso.
Hawaii's pitchers combined to strike out 11 Dons while walking just two. Olsen was the most effective. After walking the first batter he faced, the freshman right-hander retired nine consecutive Dons.
Notes: Bock set a UH single-game record when he put down three successful sacrifice bunts in his first three trips to the plate. ... Clary Carlsen got the save, his fourth in four attempts. ... Chris George will start on the mound for the Rainbows in tomorrow night's series opener at Fresno State.
Hawaii 4, San Francisco 1
HAWAII (11-3) AB R H BI USF (4-12) AB R H BI Finegan ss 5 0 0 0 Tarbat rf 4 0 2 0 Cook lf 5 0 1 0 Fukuroku 2b 4 1 1 0 Green rf 5 1 1 1 Howard cf 3 0 0 0 Russo 3b 3 0 0 0 Gaerlan ss 3 0 0 0 Sansaver 4 0 0 0 Cirbo 1b 4 0 1 0 Montgmry cf 3 0 1 0 Jacobitz lf 4 0 1 0 Mendoza dh 2 1 1 0 Sittauer dh 3 0 0 0 Bock c 1 1 1 0 Hanson c 3 0 0 0 Omura 2b 4 1 2 1 Zananiri 3b 3 0 0 0 Rawlins p 0 0 0 0 Allred p 0 0 0 0 Ponom arenko p 0 0 0 0 Annis p 0 0 0 0 Olsen p 0 0 0 0 Borgmann p 0 0 0 0 Carlsen p 0 0 0 0 Schween p 0 0 0 0 Tate p 0 0 0 0 Totals 34 4 7 2 Total 31 1 5 0 Hawaii 002 000 011 -- 4 7 2 UC Riverside 100 000 000 -- 1 5 3 E -- Zannari 2, Bock Omura, Jacobitz.
DP -- Hawaii 2.
LOB --Hawaii 8, USF 5.
2B -- Cook, Montgomery, Tarbat.
SB -- Tarbat, Fukuroku, Howard.
SH -- Bock 3.
HR -- Green.
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Rawlins 2 1 1 0 1 4 Ponomarenko 3 3 0 0 0 3 Olsen 3 0 0 0 1 4 Carlsen 1 1 0 0 0 0 U San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO Allred 3 2 2 1 0 2 Annis 2 0 0 0 0 1 Borgmann 1 1 0 0 0 1 Schween 1 1/3 0 0 0 2 1 Tate 1 2/3 4 2 1 1 1 WP -- Ponomarenko (3-0).
HBP -- by Annis (Mendoza).
Umpires -- Hack (HP), Patch (1B), Beller (3B).
T -- 2:52.
A -- 325.
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