RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Steve Bell-Irving dove safely back to second base in the third inning against HPU's Brandon Sato during the Rainbows' 10-2 victory last night.
Rainbows win
fourth straightHawaii defeats Hawaii Pacific
10-2 behind freshman Steven
Wright's first college victory
The Hawaii Rainbows mixed timely hitting with walks and a hit batter to win their fourth consecutive game last night at Murakami Stadium.
Freshman right-hander Steven Wright earned his first collegiate victory with five innings of one-hit ball in UH's 10-2 win over Hawaii Pacific before 726 fans.
Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso used his regular starting lineup with the exception of redshirt freshman catcher Steve Bell-Irving, who spelled Matt Inouye behind the plate.
Inouye, who played left field, had three runs batted in. Josh Green and Nate Thurber sent two teammates home.
Wright fell behind on two batters in each of the first three innings, but was able to battled back and prevent HPU from creating serious run-scoring situations.
"Steven struggled in his first start and today was his response," Trapasso said. "He concentrated on areas he struggled with last time, mainly his fastball command, which was up against Cal State Northridge. Today, if he missed he was going to miss down."
The Rainbows (5-5) used three singles, a sacrifice, balk and wild pitch to take a 2-0 lead in the third.
Bell-Irving blooped a single to left to start the inning, took second on Schafer Magana's sacrifice bunt, third on a balk and scored on Robbie Wilder's single to left. Wilder moved to second on a groundout, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Inouye's single up the middle.
The 'Bows added another run in the third when Creighton Kahoali'i was hit by a pitch, took second on a wild pitch and third on a groundout, and scored when Magana ripped the first pitch from HPU starter David Zamarano down the left-field line for a double.
The Sea Warriors did not get a hit until the fifth, when leadoff batter Alika Kuraoka lined a 3-2 pitch from UH starter Steven Wright into the right-field corner for a double. Wright fanned two HPU hitters and got the third on a bouncer in front of the plate to strand Kuraoka at second. Hawaii increased its lead to 6-0 in the fifth with three two-out runs.
The small-ball attack continued as Brian Finegan walked to start the inning, was sacrificed to second by Inouye, stole third and came home when Kahoali'i singled to deep third off HPU's third pitcher, Josh Ervin.
Andrew Sansaver then grounded a single to right on the first offering he saw. Thurber followed with a double into the left-field corner on a 3-2 pitch.
Wright pitched the first five innings, allowing just the one hit, walking two and striking out two. Rich Olsen came on in relief to start the sixth inning.
"Even before the game started, he had a great look in his eyes. He's pitched in big games before, so, one thing we know is that he is not scared," Trapasso said about Wright.
The Sea Warriors (5-5) averted a shutout in the sixth when Olsen walked leadoff batter Kyle Stanley and Tyler Ward flared a single into center. After Olsen got Greg Benoit to ground into a double play, Ikaika DuPont singled to center, scoring Stanley.
The Rainbows went up 8-1 in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff walk to Magana, Wilder's sacrifice bunt, a balk and Inouye's sacrifice fly to left. Finegan also walked and scored on Green's double into the right-field corner.
HPU did not need a hit to tally its second run. Chase Nakamura walked to start the seventh. He circled the bases on a groundout, balk and another groundout.
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Hawaii 10, Hawaii Pacific 2
HPU AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Say cf 4 0 0 1 Wilder cf 4 2 2 1 Costa ss 4 0 0 0 Finegan ss 2 3 1 0 Stanley 3b 3 1 1 0 Hanzawa ss 0 0 0 0 Ward rf 4 0 1 0 Inouye lf 3 0 2 3 Benoit lf 4 0 0 0 Green rf 5 0 2 2 DuPont dh 4 0 1 1 Kahoali'i 3b 3 2 1 1 Kuraoka 1b 3 0 2 0 Russo ph/3b 1 0 0 0 Nakamura c 3 1 0 0 Sansaver 1b 5 1 1 0 Sato 2b 4 0 0 0 Thurber dh 3 0 1 2 Bell-Irving c 4 1 1 0 Magana 2b 2 1 1 1 Totals 33 2 5 2 Totals 32 10 12 10
E--Kahoali'i, Magana. DP--Hawaii 1. LOB--HPU 9, Hawaii 8. 2B-- Kuraoka, Inouye, Green 2, Thurber, Magana. SH--Wilder, Inouye, Magana. SF--Inouye. SB--Finegan 2.
HPU (5-5) 000 001 100 -- 2 5 0 Hawaii (5-5) 002 132 02x -- 10 12 2
HPU IP H R ER BB SO Zamarano L (0-2) 3.2 5 3 3 1 3 Hatanaka 1 0 1 1 1 0 Ervin 2.2 7 6 6 3 3 Paiva 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Wright W (1-1) 5 1 0 0 2 4 Olsen 1 2 1 1 1 1 Fisherbaugh 2 2 1 1 1 1 Rawlins 1 0 0 0 0 0
WP--Zamarano 2, Wright 2. HBP--by Zamarano (Kahoali'i); by Fisherbaugh (Costa). BK--Zamarano, Ervin, Fisherbaugh. Umpires--Jim LeBeau (home), Don Greman (first), Mike Evans (third). T--3:18. A--726.
