GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Tim Montgomery walked back to the dugout after striking out to end an inning against Nevada last night.
Familiar foe Mateo Miramontes pitched another gem at Murakami Stadium against the Hawaii Rainbows last night for his third victory here in as many seasons.
stops ’Bows
Nevada beats Hawaii in a
Western Athletic Conference seriesBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comLast night he tossed a two-hitter for 8 1/3 innings and received closing relief help from Zachary Basch as Nevada won the opener of the three-game Western Athletic Conference baseball series 5-1.
A year ago, Miramontes shut out UH here on five hits and also won his start against the Rainbows in Reno.
"I like this stadium. I get to pitch without sleeves, and with the humidity it's easy to grip the ball," said Miramontes, who walked five and fanned four to improve to 4-1.
"My goal is to go seven strong innings. Everything after that is a plus. Tonight my curve was my best pitch. It has been working well the past two weeks."
Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said, "You have to preface everything by giving Miramontes credit. He threw his breaking ball for strikes, but we did not compete one iota at the plate.
"We did not let the ball travel and trust in our abilities. That's the plan that got us off to the good start, but it's happened to every young team I've ever coached. I'm surprised it happened so early (with the Rice series). You hope it will end tomorrow, but it won't until the players look in the mirror and tell themselves they have worked too hard to play this way, start trusting themselves and get their confidence back."
The Wolf Pack broke a scoreless tie with a four-run third inning, three coming on a line-drive home run over the right-field wall by Ben Mummy.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii infielder Brian Finegan took the throw as Nevada baserunner Robert Marcial approached second base last night. The Rainbows lost the series opener 5-1.
The inning started with a single to center by Robert Marcial, who then was forced at second on Ryan Strain's fielder's choice ground ball. Strain stole second and continued to third when UH catcher Brian Bock's throw bounced into center field.
Rainbow right-hander Chris George retired Brett Hayes on a foul fly to right for the second out, but walked Chris Dickerson on a full count. George then deflected and slowed down Kevin Kouzmanoff's ground ball up the middle. Shortstop Brian Finegan barehanded the ball behind the mound, but his off-balance throw skipped into the UH dugout as Strain scored.
"I felt I should have had it. That's a play I should have made and we're out of the inning," said George. "It's just the way this game goes sometimes."
Mummy drilled George's second pitch over the first wall to score Dickerson and Kouzmanoff.
"It was a good pitch on the outside corner," said George. "He just put a good swing on it."
Miramontes sailed through the first five innings, allowing just a two-out walk to Isaac Omura in the third. That walked ended a run of 19 consecutive batters Miramontes retired over the last two games.
The Wolf Pack took advantage of a one-out walk to Dickerson in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. He scored when Kouzmanoff lined a 2-2 pitch to the alley in left for an RBI double.
Omura halted Miramontes' no-hit bid with a one-out single to center in the sixth. Finegan's double to left-center field advanced Omura to third. He scored on Andrew Sansaver's groundout. The run ended Miramontes' bid for a second consecutive shutout at Murakami Stadium.
Omura's single increased his hitting streak to nine games.
When Miramontes walked Rocky Russo on a full count, then hit Bock with the next pitch, Basch came in and retired Josh Green on a grounder to deep short on a very close play at first base, then induced Tim Montgomery to fly out to center.
The series continues with a game today at 6:35 p.m.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH second baseman Isaac Omura avoided Nevada's Tony Cappuccilli in a play at second base last night.
WAC standings
WAC GAMES OVERALL W L PCT. GB W L Rice 6 0 1.000 -- 22 1 Fresno St. 2 1 .667 2 1/2 13 12 San Jose St. 2 2 .500 3 13 11 Nevada 2 2 .500 3 10 13 x-Louisiana Tech 1 3 .250 4 7 15 HAWAII 1 6 .143 5 1/2 14 10 [ x ] -also has one nonconference tie YESTERDAY
Louisiana Tech 3, San Jose State 2
Rice 20, Liberty 1
Fresno State 7, Minnesota 4
Nevada 5, HAWAII 1
Nevada 5, Hawaii 1
NEVADA AB R H BI HAWAII AB R H BI Strain 2b 5 1 1 0 Finegan ss 4 0 1 0 Hayes c 4 0 1 0 Sansaver 1b 4 0 0 1 Dickerson cf 1 2 0 0 Cook 1f 3 0 0 0 Kouzmanoff 3b 4 1 2 2 Russo dh 3 0 0 0 Mummy 1b 3 1 1 3 Bock c 3 0 0 0 Streelman 1f 3 0 1 0 Green rf 3 0 0 0 Cappuccilli dh 3 0 1 0 Montgomery cf 4 0 0 0 Gimenez rf 3 0 0 0 Magana 3b 3 0 0 0 Butler phrf 1 0 0 0 Omura 2b 1 1 1 0 Marcial ss 4 0 1 0 Totals 31 5 8 5 Totals 28 1 2 1
Nevada 004 010 000 -- 5 8 0 Hawaii 000 001 000 -- 1 2 4 E -- Finegan 2, Sansaver, Bock.
DP -- Nevada 1, Hawaii 2.
LOB -- Nevada 8, Hawaii 6.
2B -- Kouzmanoff, Finegan.
HR -- Mummy.
SH -- Hayes, Streelman.
SB -- Strain, Hayes, Dickerson.
CS -- Hayes, Cappuccilli.
Nevada IP H R ER BB SO Miramontes 8 1/3 2 1 1 5 4 Basch 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO George 7 8 5 5 5 7 McDowell 2 0 0 0 2 2 WP -- Miramontes (4-1).
LP -- George (4-3).
Save -- Basch.
HBP -- Bock by Miramontes.
Umpires -- HP: Chad McCardell, 1b: Richard Saxton, 3b: Don Greman.
T -- 2:39.
A -- 938.
UH Athletics
