[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
LaTech’s Bascle’s first
hit downs Rainbows
RUSTON, La. » Brady Bascle, who entered the game in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement, singled through the drawn-in infield with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to lift Louisiana Tech to a 7-6 Western Athletic Conference win over Hawaii last night at J.C. Love Field.
Bascle was 0-for-3 this season before getting his game-winning hit with one out on a one-strike pitch from Steven Wright, UH's fourth pitcher.
Junior right-hander Clayton Meyer pitched the first eight innings for the Bulldogs and Matt Lacy finished up to earn his first victory of the season.
The 'Bows (15-10, 1-3) had key hits from Greg Kish, Matt Inouye, Rocky Russo and Nate Thurber, but also left four runners in scoring position with fewer than two outs.
"It was really the middle innings that hurt us. We couldn't get anything going (offensively) against Meyer, who threw well," said UH coach Mike Trapasso. "He settled down and put up four straight zeros.
"When your No. 1 pitcher (Ricky Bauer) goes down early, that is a tough thing. Ricky didn't seem to have his stuff except for the third inning, when he got three ground balls."
The Bulldogs (11-16, 2-2) jumped on Bauer for two runs in the first inning. Gary Holik singled to left with one out and came home when Jeff Walker hit the first pitch over the center-field wall for his first homer of the season.
The Rainbows bounced back in the top of the second to tie the score at 2-2. Josh Green doubled down the left-field line and Russo was hit by a Meyer pitch. Andrew Sansaver sacrificed the runners up a base and both scored on Kish's two-out hit to center. The single extended Kish's hitting streak to 10 consecutive games.
UH took a 3-2 lead in the third. Schafer Magana walked, moved to second on Robbie Wilder's sacrifice bunt and scored on Inouye's double down the left-field line.
Louisiana Tech regained the lead in the fourth. Steve Winters started the inning with a homer over the right-field wall on a 2-2 pitch. Jeremy Alford then doubled high off the left-field wall. Bauer struck out Kyle Spangler, but Mims Boyce singled to left, with Alford stopping at third.
Alford scored and Boyce was safe at second on a double steal. Gil Laird doubled to left center, scoring Boyce to give LaTech a 5-3 advantage.
That ended Bauer's night and Guy McDowell took over the pitching duties. Bauer gave up two doubles and two homers among the eight hits he allowed.
After Inouye's double, Meyer, a junior right-hander, retired 13 of the next 14 'Bows he faced before Magana singled to right with two down in the seventh.
McDowell also was effective over the next 3 2/3 innings, holding the Bulldogs in check with one hit and no runs.
"Guy settled the game for us, pitched very well," said Trapasso. "The one thing we have been doing, throwing strikes, we didn't get that done. It's a shame. We had three walks and two came in the last inning."
The 'Bows combined offense with their running game to tie the score in the eighth.
Brian Finegan singled off first baseman Spangler's glove to start the inning. He stole second on the first pitch to Inouye, who singled to right on the next pitch to bring Finegan home. Inouye also stole second and he scored on Russo's single to left-center field.
However, Alford's one-out triple to deep left center led to the Bulldogs going ahead 6-5 in the bottom of the inning.
Darrell Fisherbaugh, who relieved McDowell at this point, got Spangler to hit a fly to short center, but Wilder dropped the ball, allowing Alford to score.
UH tied the score again in the top of the ninth when Thurber hit his fourth home run of the season to start the inning.
Lacy relieved Meyer and immediately gave up Kish's single to left on a two-strike pitch. Kish was sacrificed to second by Magana, but stayed there as Wilder lined out to first and Finegan flied out.
Fisherbaugh ran into control problems in the 10th. He walked Holik on four pitches, then hit Antonio Sabatini with a full-count pitch to start the inning. After throwing two balls to Winters, Trapasso brought Wright in from the bullpen, He retired Winters, but walked Alford before giving up Bascle's hit.
"I didn't want to bring Wright in. It's a tough spot for him. He got the ground ball, but it was in the right spot," said Trapasso.
Stephen Bryant starts on the mound for Hawaii today.
WAC standings
Yesterday
Conference All games W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 5 1 .833 -- 17 6 .739 Nevada 0 0 -- 2 12 12 .500 Fresno State 0 0 -- 2 12 16 .429 Louisiana Tech 2 2 .500 2 11 16 .407 San Jose State 2 4 .333 3 12 11 .522 Hawaii 1 3 .250 3 15 10 .600
Louisiana Tech 7, Hawaii 6 (10)
Today
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech, 2 p.m. Hawaii time
San Jose State at Nevada
Fresno State at Rice
Louisiana Tech 7, Hawaii 6
E--Wilder (2), Finegan (7). LOB--Hawaii 6, La. Tech 7. 2B--Inouye (13), Green (5), Alford (7), Laird (6). 3B--Alford (2). HR--Thurber (4), Walker (2), Winters (4). SB--Finegan (7), Inouye (9), Thurber (2), Alford (6), Boyce (3). SH--Wilder (4), Sansaver (8), Magana (7). SF--Spangler (2).
Hawaii AB R H BI La. Tech AB R H BI Wilder cf 4 0 0 0 Haygood 2b 5 0 0 0 Finegan ss 4 1 1 0 Holik ss 4 2 2 0 Inouye c 5 1 2 2 Walker lf 4 1 1 2 Green rf 5 1 1 0 Sabatini cf 0 0 0 0 Russo 3b 4 1 2 1 Winters dh/3b 5 1 1 1 Sansaver 1b 4 0 0 0 Alford cf/lf 4 2 2 0 Thurber dh 3 1 1 1 Spangler lf 3 0 1 1 Kish lf 4 0 2 2 Bascle 1b 1 0 1 1 Magana 2b 2 1 1 0 Boyce c 3 1 2 0 Laird rf 4 0 1 1 Lacy 3b/p 4 0 0 0 Totals 35 6 10 6 Totals 37 7 11 6 Hawaii 021 000 021 0 -- 6 10 2 Louisiana Tech 200 300 010 1 -- 7 11 0
HPB--by Meyer (Russo), by Meyer (Finegan), by Meyer (Thurber), by McDowell (Boyce). Umpires--Dale Luker (home), Chris Magouirk (first), Jay McKeown (third). T--3:02. A--363.
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Bauer 3.1 8 55 5 0 1 McDowell 4.0 2 1 1 0 3 Fisherbaugh (L, 0-1) 1.2 0 1 1 2 3 Wright 0.1 0 1 1 2 3 La. Tech IP H R ER BB SO Meyer 8.0 8 6 6 1 5 Lacy (W, 1-3) 2.0 2 0 0 0 0
