Pitching carries SHREVEPORT, La. >> The Hawaii Rainbows won their second road game of the season last night, defeating Centenary 3-1 in a nonconference game.
UH past Gents
A 3-1 victory over Centenary
gives the 'Bows a rare road winFrom staff and wire reports
The Rainbows (18-17) had a shutout working until the ninth inning when the Gents (19-19) scored a run with two outs on a hit batter and three consecutive singles.
Starter Keahi Rawlins and relievers Clary Carlsen and Guy McDowell provided Hawaii with solid pitching, the defense was flawless and the batters contributed 10 hits.
"Keahi was outstanding. He gave up some walks (six), but was around the plate all night," said UH coach Mike Trapasso.
Rawlins, the freshman right-hander from Molokai, allowed just two hits through six innings. When he walked the leadoff batter in the seventh and with UH holding a 3-0 lead at that time, Trapasso brought Carlsen in from the bullpen.
The junior right-hander got a double-play ball on his fourth pitch and a grounder on his seventh pitch to end the inning.
"Clary comes in and gets us out of jams then puts himself back in a jam the next inning when he leaves two balls up," said Trapasso.
The first two Gents got hits in the eighth to put runners at second and third. Enter freshman right-hander Guy McDowell.
The Saint Louis graduate fanned the first batter, induced the second Gent to pop up to first and ended the inning with a ground ball to third baseman Brent Cook. McDowell then struck out the first two batters in the ninth before hitting pinch hitter Bryan Scanlon on a 2-2 count. After three singles and one run, Trapasso went to the mound.
"As a freshman, Guy has to learn to close things out. He's light's out until he has to throw that last pitch," said Trapasso. "I told him the same thing I tell all our pitchers, to throw strikes and not guide the ball in there. I told Guy it (the run) was no big deal, to just let it rip and get one more out."
McDowell needed one more pitch to make Trapasso's advice work, ending the game by getting pinch hitter Jacob Willett on a grounder.
Kevin Gilbride started both UH run-scoring innings with a bunt single in the fourth and a two-out flare to left in the seventh.
Centenary starter David Ruffing played a big role in the UH runs. In the third he threw wildly to first and then to second trying to pick off Gilbride, who ended up at third. Gilbride scored on Brian Finegan's single to center.
In the seventh, Ruffing muffed Finegan's bunt for an error, then, after Isaac Omura beat out a bunt single to load the bases, Ruffing threw wildly to first again, allowing Gilbride and Finegan to score.
"This was by far our best offensive game we've had in a long time," said Trapasso, who met with each player individually during the day to let them know the season wasn't over simply because of what happened at Rice. "We had a good approach, hit more balls hard than we have hit in a game all year and would have scored more runs if the wind hadn't been blowing in.
"We dominated on the mound and at the plate. I was really happy with our intensity, our competitiveness and our aggressiveness at the plate."
Hawaii opens a three-game Western Athletic Conference series at Louisiana Tech tomorrow with Nick Ponomarenko getting the start on the mound.
Notes: The No. 1-ranked Rice Owls won their 30th consecutive game yesterday, defeating No. 17 Texas A&M 8-0. ... Andrew Sansaver has a seven-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 17 of his last 20 games. ... The Rainbows are 16-2 when leading after seven innings.
Hawaii 3, Centenary 1
Hawaii AB R H BI Centenary AB R H BI Finegan ss 5 1 2 1 Gilliam lf 4 0 1 0 Omura 2b 2 0 0 0 Beale 2b 3 0 2 0 Magana 2b 2 0 2 0 Jolley 1b 3 0 2 1 Cook 3b 4 0 1 0 Shields pr 0 0 0 0 Sansaver 1b 4 0 1 0 Darr dh 3 0 0 0 Inouye lf 4 0 0 0 Willett ph/dh 2 0 0 0 Russo dh 4 0 0 0 Pate rf 3 0 0 0 Mntgomery cf 4 0 1 0 Cardone ss 4 0 2 0 Bock c 4 0 1 0 Heaverlo cf 3 0 0 0 Gilbride rf 4 2 2 0 Hoffman 3b 2 0 0 0 Valdivia ph/3b 1 0 0 0 Marshall c 3 0 0 0 Scanlon ph 0 1 0 0 Totals 37 3 10 1 Totals 31 1 7 1
Hawaii 001 000 200 -- 3 10 0 Centenary 000 000 001 -- 1 7 4 E--Ruffing 4. DP--Hawaii 2. LOB--Hawaii 7, Centenary 12. 2B--Finegan, Jolley. SB--Cook. CS--Omura, Gilliam.
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Rawlins (W,2-2) 6.0 2 0 0 0 6 Carlsen 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 McDowell (S,1) 2.0 3 1 1 0 3
Centenary IP H R ER BB SO Ruffing (L,2-4) 9.0 10 3 3 0 6 Rawlins faced one batter in the seventh; Carlsen faced two batters in the eighth.
WP--Rawlins. HBP--by by Rawlins (Jolley), by Rawlins (Pate), by McDowell (Scanlon).
T--2:39. A--68.
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