RUSTON, La. >> Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso had no appetite for dinner after last night's game against Louisiana Tech. Errors doom ’Bows
WAC standings
in another WAC lossFrom staff and wire reports
The Bulldogs parlayed six unearned runs into a 7-6 Western Athletic Conference victory over the Rainbows and are on the verge of handing Hawaii its fourth consecutive three-game league sweep.
Chris George will try to prevent that from happening when he takes the mound for the 'Bows today at 8 a.m. Hawaii time. He pitched the only game UH won here last year.
The Rainbows (18-19, 1-13 WAC) outhit and outhomered the Bulldogs (12-21-1, 5-9 WAC), but also committed more errors than Louisiana Tech, with four of the five miscues coming in the excruciatingly horrendous fourth inning.
Tim Montgomery's two-run homer, the first hit off Bulldog left-hander Adam Kirkendall, put UH ahead in the top of the inning. But holding a lead on this road trip is a concept the Rainbows haven't quite grasped yet.
The disastrous bottom of the fourth inning went like this:
Wade Robinson grounded a ball over the first-base bag for a double.
Jeff Walker hit a slow grounder toward shortstop that Brian Finegan bobbled for his first error of the inning. Robinson held second.
UH starter Ricky Bauer, who had pitched three strong innings, struck out Ben Tabor.
Bauer got a force-out at second on Kyle Humphreys' nubber back to the mound for the second out, leaving Bulldogs at first and third.
Jeremy Alford hit a ground ball that ricocheted off Finegan's glove for his second error of the inning, as Robinson scored.
Kyle Spangler hit Bauer's first pitch over the right-field wall for a three-run homer.
Ryan Jackson singled to right.
Jody Wood reached first on a fielding error by third baseman Schafer Magana, with Jackson stopping at second.
And Finegan booted John Brandon's ground ball for his third error of the inning, as Jackson scored for a 5-2 Bulldog lead.
"You can't say we lost because of Finegan's errors, but obviously they were a big factor in the game," said Trapasso. "If we swung the bats in the first six or seven innings the way we did in the last two innings, we would have scored 15 runs."
Finegan's fourth error of the game opened the door for two more Louisiana Tech runs in the sixth.
Trailing 7-3 entering the eighth, consecutive home runs by Matt Inouye -- his first of the season -- and Montgomery -- his eighth -- cut the UH deficit to 7-5.
In the ninth, a double by Brent Cook and Rocky Russo's infield single put runners at first and third with one out. Inouye then drove a two-strike pitch from closer Matt Varner to right-center field that center fielder Antonio Sabatini caught high above the 8-foot wall to change a potential three-run homer into a sacrifice fly, as Cook scored.
That was it for the 'Bows, as Varner fanned Montgomery to end the game.
Finegan's three errors in the fourth tied the UH record for an inning set by Michael Dartt at Air Force in 1999.
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WAC standings
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 12 1 .923 -- 33 3 .917 Nevada 8 2 .800 2 1/2 18 16 .529 Fresno St. 7 3 .700 3 1/2 20 15 .571 Louisiana Tech 5 9 .357 7 1/2 12 21 .364 SJSU 4 9 .308 8 18 18 .500 Hawaii 1 13 .071 11 1/2 18 19 .486 Yesterday
Louisiana Tech 7, Hawaii 6
Fresno State 7, Rice 3
Nevada 15, San Jose State 2
Tomorrow
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech, 8 a.m. HST
Rice at Fresno State
San Jose State at Nevada
Louisiana Tech 7, Hawaii 6
Hawaii (18-19) AB R H BI TECH (12-21) AB R H BI Finegan s 5 1 1 0 Wood 2b/3b 4 0 2 2 Sansaver 1b 5 0 2 0 Brandon cf 3 0 0 0 Cook rf/lf 4 1 2 1 Sabatini ph/cf 1 0 0 0 Russo dh 4 0 1 0 Robinson ss 5 1 2 0 Guillen pr 0 0 0 0 Walker rf 3 0 1 0 Inouye c 4 2 1 2 Allen pr/rf 0 0 0 0 Montgomery cf 5 2 2 3 Tabor dh 3 0 0 0 Wightman 1f 3 0 1 0 Dodson ph/dh 1 0 0 0 Green pr/rf 0 0 0 0 Humphreys 1b 3 1 0 0 Magana 3b 4 0 1 0 Alford lf 4 2 0 0 Omura 2b 3 0 0 0 Spangler 3b 3 2 1 3 Haygood 2b 0 0 0 0 Haddox c 0 0 0 0 Jackson c 3 1 1 0 Total 37 6 11 6 Total 33 7 7 5
Hawaii 000 210 021 -- 6 11 5 Rice 000 502 00x -- 7 7 2 E--Finegan 4; Magana; Robinson; Spangler. DP--Tech 1. LOB--Hawaii 9; Tech 8. 2B--Cook; Robinson. HR-- Inouye; Montgomery 2; Spangler. HBP-- Russo; Sabatini. SH--Jackson. SF--Inouye. SB--Wood; Sabatini; Dodson 2; Humphreys. CS--Walker.
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Bauer (L, 2-3) 5.1 7 7 1 2 6 Cayetano 2.2 0 0 0 2 5
Rice IP H R ER BB SO Kirkendall (W, 3-6) 7.1 8 5 3 3 4 Tucker 1.0 3 1 1 0 1 Varner 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 WP-- Tucker 4. HBP--by Kirkendall (Russo); by Cayetano (Sabatini). PB--Inouye. Umpires--HP:Brian Martin, 1B: Bob Charmo, 3B: Jay McKeown. T--2:50. A--629.
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