DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lewis-Clark State's Nick Browne looked to umpire Mike Evans as teammate Micah Furtado signaled safe. Evans called Browne out on a tag by UH catcher Brian Bock.
’Bows lose to The Lewis-Clark State Warriors took advantage of a ball momentarily lost in the lights to score a run in the tenth inning to edge Hawaii 3-2 last night on the second day of the Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament.
Lewis-Clark State
Hawaii falls in 10 innings
to drop into a tie for second
place in the Easter TournamentBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com
Clary Carlsen retired the first two Warriors in the tenth, but Jose Rodrigues dumped a single into shallow right on a 1-2 pitch and took second on Justin Fuller's high chopper to first that went for an infield single.
Standings: Lewis-Clark State, 2-0; Hawaii and Air Force, 1-1; Western Illinois, 0-2 Schedule and results
Tuesday: Lewis-Clark State 3, Air Force 2; Hawaii 9, Western Illinois 1
Yesterday: Air Force 4, Western Illinois 2; Lewis-Clark State 3, Hawaii 2, 10 inn.
Today: Western Illinois vs. Lewis-Clark State, 2:30 p.m.; Hawaii vs. Air Force, 6:35 p.m.
Tomorrow : Semifinal games at 2:30 p.m. and 6:35 p.m.
Saturday: Third place 2:30 p.m.; Championship, 6:35 p.m.
Note: UH plays at 6:35 p.m. regardless of results. All UH games live on KFVE (Channel 5) and KKEA (1420 AM).
Nick Browne then ripped a two-strike pitch on a line to Brent Cook, who tried to shield his eyes with his glove and had the ball hit the glove and bounce to the ground as Rodrigues scored.
The Rainbows (15-13) got the leadoff man on base in the bottom of the inning when Josh Green lined a single off the glove of Lewis-Clark State pitcher Marc Kaiser.
However, Brian Bock bunted into a double play and Matt Inouye went down swinging as Kaiser finished his second complete game of the season and improved to 5-1.
Kaiser allowed just four hits, walked only one and struck out 10. The 10th inning was his last, but it was just enough to leave the Warriors with the best chance of getting the top seed in tomorrow's semifinal round.
"He's the best we've seen by far and we've seen some good ones with Rice," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso.
Kaiser's fastball was dominating, but his soft curve and hard-breaking slider were the pitches that fooled the 'Bows the most.
"You need a break like that to win a game like this," said LCSC coach Ed Cheff. "You had good pitching and some excellent defensive plays on both sides. This is the kind of game neither team deserves to lose."
"You are not going to get many opportunities when you face pitching like that. When you get the leadoff man on, you have to move him up," said Trapasso.
The Rainbows took advantage of a faulty decision by Lewis-Clark State second baseman Fuller to push a run across the plate in the third.
With one out Tim Montgomery bounced a single up the middle for UH's first hit. Montgomery was running on the first pitch to Isaac Omura, who hit a grounder to Fuller, who tried for the double play. However, his toss to shortstop Brendan Ryan at second was late and Ryan's throw to first was off line as Omura reached safely. Kaiser wild-pitched the runners up a base and Brian Finegan's grounder to the right side scored Montgomery.
UH starter Nick Ponomarenko escaped bases-loaded jams in the second and sixth innings with a fielder's choice grounder and a double play ball, respectively, but ran out of clutch pitches in the seventh.
Rodrigues lined a single to center on the first pitch and took second on a passed ball. Fuller grounded a hard single to left past a diving Rocky Russo at third, Rodrigues stopping at third. Browne then drove a 1-2 pitch to the base of the wall in left-center field for a two-run double and a 2-1 Warrior lead.
When Tyson Best blooped a single to left, ending Ponomarenko's work for the night even though UH left fielder Cook threw out Browne at the plate on the play.
Freshman right-hander Rich Olsen came on, hit a batter and gave up an infield single, but held the Warriors (22-4) scoreless the rest of the inning.
Meanwhile, after surrendering the Rainbow run, Kaiser retired 14 of the next 15 batters, at one point striking out eight of nine 'Bows from the fourth through the sixth innings.
Hawaii tied the score in the bottom of the eighth. The Rainbows managed their second hit off Kaiser when designated hitter Tyler Wightman bounced a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a single. Pinch runner Matt Inouye moved to second on Montgomery's sacrifice bunt and went to third on Omura's groundout. Finegan then drove Kaiser's first pitch to center for an RBI single.
The Warriors threatened in the top of the ninth when Micah Furtado walked and raced to third on Paul Gallegos' single to center. Carlsen replaced Olsen on the mound and threw one pitch that Ryan hit into an inning-ending double play, Omura unassisted at second to first.
Air Force 4, Western Illinois 2: The Falcons (9-16) broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the sixth inning. The first scored on a sacrifice fly by Bowie Frost and the second came home on a double steal, with Zach McAngus reaching second safely and Adam Howes beating the return throw to the plate.
The Falcons' victory ended a seven-game losing streak. Jesper Stubbendorff pitched his second complete game of the season for the Falcons, who play the Rainbows tonight at 6:35.
The Leathernecks (9-12) led briefly in the first inning on Clint Buchen's RBI single, but failed to score after loading the bases with one out in the fifth and stranded eight runners in the game. They play Lewis-Clark State in today's 2:30 p.m. game.
Lewis-Clark St. 3, Hawaii 2
LCSC (22-4) AB R H BI Hawaii (15-13) AB R H BI Furtado lf 2 0 1 0 Finegan ss 4 0 1 2 Gallegos cf 5 0 2 0 Sansaver 1b 3 0 0 0 Ryan ss 4 0 1 0 Cook lf 4 0 0 0 Balmer dh 4 0 0 0 Russo 3b 3 0 0 0 Frostad 1b 5 0 1 0 Magana 3b 0 0 0 0 Rodriquez 3b 4 2 2 0 Green rf 4 0 1 0 Fuller 2b 4 1 2 0 Bock c 4 0 0 0 Browne rf 4 0 1 2 Wightman dh 3 0 1 0 Best c 3 0 1 0 Inouye prdh 1 1 0 0 Dietz pr 0 0 0 0 Montgomery cf 2 1 1 0 Concepcion c 1 0 0 0 Omura 2b 3 0 0 0 Total 36 3 11 2 Total 31 2 4 2 E--Cook; Bock. DP--LCSC 2; Hawaii 2. LOB--LCSC 11; Hawaii 2. 2B--Frostad; Browne. SH--Ryan; Montgomery. SB--Rodriguez. CS--Finegan.
LCSC 000 000 200 1 -- 3 11 0 Hawaii 001 000 010 0 -- 2 4 2
HBP--By Kaiser (Sansaver); by Olsen (Furtado). Umpires--HP: Mike Evans, 1B: Keoki Torres, 3B: Don Greman. T--3:00. A--2,575.
LCSC IP H R ER BB SO Kaiser (W, 5-1) 10 4 2 2 1 10 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Ponomarenko 6 1/3 7 2 2 4 4 Olsen 2 2 0 0 2 2 Carlsen (L, 1-3) 1 2/3 2 1 0 0 0 Air Force 4, Western Illinois 2
Nathan Miller and Tim Casey, Dan Corpus (6); Jesper Stubbendorff and Daniel Petro. W-Stubbendorff (3-3). L-Miller (3-2).
Western Illinois 100 000 100 -- 2 8 1 Air Force 010 020 01x -- 4 6 0
Leading hitters--WIU: Joe Rooney, 2b: Casey, 2b. AFA: Tony Shockley, 2-4, 2b; Petro, 2b.
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