[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
Bryant settles down
as Hawaii evens series
at LaTech
RUSTON, La. » The Hawaii Rainbows pounded out 16 hits, turned three double plays and received a solid pitching performance from Stephen Bryant to even a Western Athletic Conference series with a 13-7 victory last night over Louisiana Tech.
Bryant's first pitch landed beyond the center-field wall and the next three Bulldogs reached base. After a visit from UH coach Mike Trapasso with a two-ball count on the fourth batter, Bryant settled down.
He finished with a career-high eight strikeouts and improved to 3-2.
"After he gave up the home run, Stephen started to pitch tentatively, nibbling at the corners. I just told him to be aggressive and not nibble," Trapasso said. "You give up solo homers here, but if you walk people they become three-run homers."
The Rainbows (16-10, 2-3 WAC) overcame an early deficit by scoring in every inning from the second to the ninth except the sixth in the conference win.
"The key was to continue to score," Trapasso said. "It gives you a good comfort zone, but I told the players a four- or five-run lead here is like a one- or two-run lead in other parks."
Trapasso wanted Bryant to go at least seven innings due to a thin bullpen. Bryant should have finished the seventh, but he gave way to Rich Olsen with two down in that inning after a misplayed ball in left and Steve Winters' run-scoring triple.
The series concludes today with an afternoon game. The 'Bows now have a chance to win their first series here in three visits and return home with a 3-3 record on their first road trip of the season.
The Bulldogs took an immediate lead when Brandon Haygood drove Bryant's first pitch over the center-field wall for his fourth home run of the season.
Bryant then walked Gary Holik, gave up a single to Jeff Walker and walked Winters to load the bases. The junior right-hander minimized the damage by getting Jeremy Alford to hit into a double play that scored Holik, then fanned Kyle Spangler to end the inning.
Josh Green started a UH rally in the second with a leadoff homer over the right-field wall. It was his first round-tripper since his first at-bat in the season opener against Texas.
The Rainbows tied the score at 2 when Rocky Russo reached on a fielding error by third baseman Matt Lacy. Russo took second on a two-out single by Creighton Kahoali'i and scored on Isaac Omura's two-out single to right.
The 'Bows took a 5-2 lead in the third. Greg Kish singled to left to extend his hitting streak to 11 games on the first pitch from LaTech starter Blake Burns.
Matt Inouye's two-strike double down the left-field line advanced Kish to third. After Green struck out, Russo was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Andrew Sansaver delivered a single up the middle to bring Kish and Inouye home, with Russo stopping at second. Kahoali'i dumped a two-out single into right to score Russo.
Hawaii took advantage of Green being hit by a 1-2 pitch with two outs in the fourth. Russo followed with an RBI triple off the left-center-field wall to give UH a 6-2 lead.
Brian Finegan's two-out double to left scored Nate Thurber with UH's seventh run in the fifth. Thurber opened the inning with a single to left and moved to second on a balk.
The Bulldogs got a run in the bottom of the inning on Walker's RBI single to trail UH 7-3.
The 'Bows answered with a pair of runs in the seventh. Thurber walked and was sacrificed to second by Kahoali'i. Omura then hit a fly to shallow left that was caught, but a balk had been called, thus there was no pitch. Thurber took third on the balk, and Omura, with a second chance, doubled over the left fielder's head to score Thurber. Finegan's single to center sent Omura home to up the UH lead to 9-3.
LaTech used a disputed call at first base and a misjudged line drive in left to score three unearned runs in the bottom of the inning after Bryant had retired two Bulldogs following Brandon Hudson's leadoff double.
First base umpire Jay McKeown ruled Sansaver did not keep his foot on the bag while catching Russo's high throw on Walker's ground ball as Hudson scored. Kish then played Winters' line drive to left into an RBI triple as Walker scored.
Olsen, who earned his second save of the year, relieved Bryant and gave up an RBI double to pinch hitter Will Wade, but ended the inning by getting Spangler to ground out.
"Rich has been battling some tenderness (in his right arm), but he told me he felt good today and wanted to pitch. He did a real good job," Trapasso said.
Notes: UH batters have been hit by a pitch 46 times this season. The school record is 79, set in 1999. ... Today's game will be broadcast on 1420-AM starting with the coach's show at 8:50 a.m.
WAC standings
Yesterday
Conference All games W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Nevada 1 0 1.000 3 13 12 .520 Rice 6 1 .857 -- 18 6 .750 Hawaii 2 3 .400 3 16 10 .615 Louisiana Tech 2 3 .400 3 11 17 .393 Fresno State 0 1 .000 3 12 17 .414 San Jose State 2 5 .286 4 12 12 .500
Hawaii 13, Louisiana Tech 7
Nevada 7, San Jose State 6
Rice 6, Fresno State 1
Today
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech, 9 a.m. Hawaii time
San Jose State at Nevada
Fresno State at Rice
Hawaii 13, Louisiana Tech 7
E--Finegan (7), Russo (5), Haygood (17); Holik (7), Spangler (7), Lacy (1), Guillot (1). DP--Hawaii 3. LOB--Hawaii 13, La. Tech 8. 2B--Finegan (6), Inouye 2 (14), Omura (1), Wade (1), Hudson (2). 3B--Russo (1), Winters (1). HR--Green (2), Haygood (4), Walker (2). SB--Kahoali'i (3). CS--Russo (1). SH--Green 2), Kahoali'i (2).
Hawaii AB R H BI LaTech AB R H BI Finegan ss 6 0 2 2 Haygood 2b 5 2 3 1 Kish lf 5 2 1 0 Holik ss 3 1 0 0 Inouye cf 4 2 2 0 Walker lf 5 2 4 2 Green rf 4 3 1 1 Winters dh 3 1 1 1 Russo 3b 4 2 1 1 Soper ph 1 0 0 0 Sansaver 1b 6 0 2 2 Alford cf 3 0 0 0 Thurber dh 4 2 2 1 Wade ph 1 0 1 1 Kahoali'i c 5 0 2 1 Sabatini pr/cf 1 0 0 0 Omura 2b 4 1 3 2 Spangler 1b 4 0 0 0 Magana pr/2b 0 1 0 0 McHale ph 1 0 0 0 Boyce c 3 0 0 0 Dugdale c 0 0 0 0 Laird rf 4 0 2 0 Lacy 3b 1 0 0 0 Hudson ph/3b 3 1 2 0 Totals 42 13 16 10 Totals 38 7 13 5 Hawaii 023 110 213 -- 13 16 2 Louisiana Tech 200 010 301 -- 7 13 5
HPB--by Burns (Green), by Herron (Inouye), by Guillot (Inouye), by Guillot (Thurber). Umpires--Chris Magouirk (home), Jay McKeown (first), Dale Luker (third). T--3:14. A--419.
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Bryant (W, 3-2) 6.2 9 6 3 3 8 Olsen (S, 2) 2.1 4 1 1 1 2 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Burns (L, 3-2) 3.2 8 6 5 2 4 Love 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 Herron 3.0 4 3 2 2 1 Bascle 0.2 1 2 0 1 1 Guillot 0.2 1 1 0 0 1
