GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii pitcher Nick Ponomarenko pitched to Coastal Carolina's Mike Costanzo last night. The Rainbows won 6-2.
’Bows get back It was new territory for the Hawaii baseball team.
on winning track
Hawaii snaps a four-game
losing streak with a win
against Coastal CarolinaBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThe Rainbows had never been this far up so early this season ... taking a 2-0 lead after the first against Coastal Carolina last night at Murakami Stadium. And, for the first time in four home games, the Rainbows didn't need their final at-bat to try to mount a rally.
Three Hawaii pitchers combined on an eight-hitter as the Rainbows (14-8) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the No. 28 Chanticleers (18-5) in front of 650 fans.
The teams finish the two-game series tonight at 6:35.
"It was definitely a good start for us, getting those two runs in the first inning," said UH left fielder Brent Cook, who drove in the game's first run. "Especially after the weekend we just had (against Rice) where we struggled offensively. It helped to get the runs early.
"Rice taught us that we have a lot of work to do, a lot of things we have to improve on. That's what happens when you play one of the best teams around. But we're not hanging our heads. I'm proud of the guys tonight. We bounced back well against another high-caliber team. We executed well and came out on top."
The only other time the Rainbows were ahead 2-0 this year was after the top of the second at Fresno State on March 9, a game UH lost, 5-4, in the bottom of the ninth. This time, the Rainbows handled the early success.
Brian Finegan led off the game with a walk, was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Andrew Sansaver and scored when Cook drilled an 0-2 pitch to right. Cook put the Rainbows up 2-0 when he scored on Rocky Russo's single to right.
"We really executed well offensively and Cook's hit was huge," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso. "That's what we talk about, the two-strike adjustment. It's something we've gotten away from in the last few games. To get our first run on exactly what we work on all the time and what we'd gotten away from is big.
"And Rocky the same thing. For him to drive the ball down the line, opposite field. To get on the board, 2-0, that's big for us."
Coastal pulled to 2-1 in the top of the third on Jeff Baker's home run 365 feet over the right-field wall off UH reliever Nick Ponomarenko. It was the senior left fielder's fourth homer in six games and a team-leading eighth for the year.
The Rainbows added two insurance runs in the sixth, capitalizing on the Chants' second error of the inning. Isaac Omura's bunt scored Tim Montgomery from third and what should have been the second out was erased when Tyler Hasbrouck misfired trying to throw out Omura.
Hawaii didn't waste the opportunity, with Schafer Magana scoring from third on Finegan's long foul fly to right.
In the top of the seventh, Coastal was finally able to take advantage of the walk-happy UH pitchers. In both the first and fifth innings, three Chants got on base via walks but never scored.
They finally broke through in the seventh for another run. Brett Grandstrand, on with a leadoff walk from Ponomarenko, scored on Hasbrouck's single off reliever Clary Carlsen to close to 4-2.
"We were lucky that those walks didn't hurt us early," Trapasso said. "We seemed to make pitches when we needed to, but that's not always going to happen. You're going to beat most of the time when you do that.
"I thought we played well offensively and defensively."
Inouye's second double of the game -- a shot down the third baseline -- brought in Russo in the bottom of the seventh to account for Hawaii's fifth run. A double to left by Finegan in the eight scored Omura for the Rainbows' final run.
Freshman Rich Olsen (2-1) made his first start and got the win after three innings, walking three and giving up one run on four hits. Sophomore Jake Hurry (5-1) lost for the first time this year.
Another freshman right-hander, Reid Horton (0-0), makes his starting debut tonight for Hawaii. Trapasso said he'll again pitch by committee, saving his normal rotation for this weekend's WAC series with Nevada.
Hawaii 6, Coastal Carolina 2
CCU AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI McGraw cf 5 0 2 0 Finegan ss 2 1 1 2 Grandstrnd ss 3 1 0 0 Sansaver 1b 2 0 0 0 Powell 2b 3 0 0 0 Cook lf 4 1 1 1 Baker lf 3 1 1 1 Russo dh 4 1 1 1 Pinocchio 3b 2 0 1 0 Bock c 4 0 0 0 Hasbrouck 1b 5 0 1 1 Inouye rf 3 0 2 1 Pernasilici pr 0 0 0 0 Montgmery cf 3 1 0 0 Costanzo dh 5 0 1 0 Magana 3b 4 1 1 0 Oxendine c 2 0 1 0 Inouye lf 3 0 2 1 Nichols c 1 0 0 0 Omura 2b 3 1 1 1 Grove rf 4 0 1 0 Totals 33 2 8 2 Totals 29 6 7 6 E--Hasbrouck 2, Waack, Sansaver 2. DP--Hawaii 1. LOB--CCU 14, Hawaii 9. 2B--Pinocchio, Finegan, Russo, Inouye 2. HR--Baker. SH--Oxendine, Sansaver, Cook, Omura. SF--Finegan. SB--Omura. CS--McGraw, Powell.
Coastal Carolina 001 000 100 -- 2 8 3 Hawaii 200 002 11x -- 6 7 2
Ponomarenko faced two batters in the seventh.
Coastal Carolina IP H R ER BB SO Hurry (L,4-1) 4.1 3 2 2 4 4 Waack 3.2 4 4 2 1 1 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Olsen (W,2-1) 3.0 4 1 1 3 0 Ponomarenko 3.0 2 1 1 5 3 Carlsen (S,5) 3.0 2 0 0 1 0 WP--Hurry. HBP--by Hurry (Sansaver). BK--Hurry 2.
Umpires--Jim LeBeau (plate), Don Greman (first), Keoki Torres (third).
T--3:12. A--turnstile unavailable.
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