FRESNO, Calif. >> The Fresno State Bulldogs jumped to a 5-0 lead after three innings and held off Hawaii for a 6-3 victory in the opener of a three-game Western Athletic Conference baseball series last night. Rainbows open WAC play
with loss at FresnoFrom staff and wire reports
"We just didn't play well. It's the fifth game in a row where we didn't decide to compete until about the fourth or fifth inning," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso. "When you are playing someone like Fresno on the road, you can't get away with that. We got away with it before because we had good pitching. Today, we didn't pitch well and pitching set the tone of the game."
UH starter Chris George (4-1) struggled from the first batter, walking Ryan Haas, and lasted just 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.
George then hit Chris Patrick with the next pitch and gave up a run-scoring single to Tory Davis on a full count, but limited the damage by throwing a double-play ball to Casey McGehee and fanning Brian Pierce.
The Bulldogs struck again in the second inning after two were out. Brandon Marcelli doubled and Joey Myers walked on a 3-2 pitch. Haag slapped a 1-2 pitch into right field for a two-run single.
Fresno State widened the margin to 5-0 with two more runs in the third. McGehee sent a one-strike pitch from George over the scoreboard in left field for his first homer of the year.
When Pierce lined George's first pitch into left for a single, that ended the senior right-hander's work for the night.
"Chris had no command of anything," said Trapasso. "He couldn't throw his breaking balls for strikes and had no command of his fastball. It's his third bad outing in a row and we need to get him some extra time in the bullpen and get him straightened out."
UH freshman right-hander Mike Peck came out of the bullpen and threw two wild pitches, allowing Pierce to advance to third. He scored FSU's fifth run on Kent Sakamoto's double down the left-field line.
Peck settled the game down by retiring 11 of the next 13 Bulldogs he faced. Guy McDowell pitched the seventh and eighth and gave up FSU's final run on doubles by Chase Moore and Haag in the eighth.
"Peck put zeros up and let us see if our offense could get anything done," said Trapasso.
Schafer Magana's two-run, two-out single sent Brian Bock, who had singled, and Jaziel Mendoza, who doubled to left-center field, home with UH's first two runs in the fifth.
The Rainbows (11-4, 0-1 WAC) got another run in the sixth to narrow the Bulldogs' (5-11, 1-0 WAC) lead to 5-3 as Josh Green doubled to right, took third on Rocky Russo's single and scored on an error.
Hawaii had runners at second and third in the seventh and at first and second in the ninth -- both times with two outs -- but Green popped up to end both threats.
"We could see he (FSU starter Cody Smith) was in a pattern and what he was going to do, but we didn't adjust. We really didn't play that well. It's that simple," said Trapasso.
The teams play today at 11 a.m. Hawaii time. Left-hander Justin Cayetano (2-1) will be on the mound for UH. Right-hander Matt Garza (1-3) takes the hill for the Bulldogs.
WAC Standings
WAC GAMES OVERALL W L Pct. GB W L Rice 1 0 1.000 -- 13 1 Fresno St. 1 0 1.000 -- 5 11 San Jose St. 0 0 .000 1/2 7 8 Nevada 0 0 .000 1/2 8 10 HAWAII 0 1 .000 1 11 4 x-Louisiana Tech 0 1 .000 1 5 9 x-also has one nonconference tie
YESTERDAY
Fresno State 6, Hawaii 3
Rice 4, Louisiana Tech 3
Nevada 14, Pacific 5
San Jose State 8, Santa Clara 0TODAY (All times HST)
Rice at Louisiana Tech, 9 a.m.
Nevada at Oregon State, 11 a.m.
San Jose State at Santa Clara, 11 a.m.
Hawaii at Fresno State, 11:05 a.m.TOMORROW
Rice at Louisiana Tech, 9 a.m.
Nevada at Oregon State, 11 a.m.
Santa Clara at San Jose State, 11 a.m.
Hawaii at Fresno State, 11:05 a.m.
Fresno St. 6, Hawaii 3
HAWAII AB R H BI FRESNO ST. AB R H BI Finegan ss 5 0 1 0 Haag 2b 4 1 2 3 Cook 1f 3 0 1 0 Patrick ss 4 0 0 0 Green rf 5 1 1 0 Davis lf 4 0 1 1 Russo 3b 4 0 1 0 Beshears lf/rf 0 0 0 0 Sansaver 1b 3 0 0 1 McGehee 3b 4 1 2 1 Montgomery cf 4 0 1 0 Pierce 1b 4 1 2 0 Bock c 4 1 1 0 Kempster 1b 0 0 0 0 Mendoza dh 4 1 1 0 Sakamoto dh 4 0 1 1 Magana 2b 3 0 1 2 Moore rf 4 0 1 0 Rothford pr/lf 0 1 0 0 Marcelli c 4 1 1 0 Myers cf 1 1 0 0 Totals 35 3 8 3 Totals 33 6 10 6 Hawaii (11-4, 0-1) 000 021 000 -- 3 8 0 Fresno (5-11, 1-0) 122 000 01X -- 6 10 2 E -- Haag, McGehee.
DP -- Hawaii 1, Fresno St. 1.
LOB -- Hawaii 9, Fresno St. 8.
2B -- Green, Mendoza, Pierce, Sakamoto, Moore, Marcelli.
HR -- McGehee (1).
HAWAII IP H R ER BB SO George (L, 4-1) 2 1/3 5 5 5 2 4 Peck 3 2/3 2 0 0 1 2 McDowell 2 3 1 1 1 2 FRESNO ST. IP H R ER BB SO Smith (W, 2-2) 6 7 3 3 0 5 Griffin 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 Edwards 2 1/3 1 0 0 2 2 Wolfenbarger (S, 2) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 WP -- George, Peck 2, Edwards.
HBP -- Patrick (by George), Sansaver (by Smith), Magana (by Griffin).
Umpires -- HP: Jim Garman, 1b: Rick Saxton, 3b: David Wiley.
T -- 2:53.
A -- 2,457.
UH Athletics
