[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Clary Carlsen pitched a four-hit complete game yesterday.
Carlsen carries UH
over SJSU
Clary Carlsen and pitching coach Chad Konishi agreed on the solution to a precarious, first-inning situation. The positive result allowed the senior right-hander to find his focus.
Carlsen went on to pitch a four-hit complete game to lead Hawaii to a 6-1 victory over San Jose State in the finale of a Western Athletic Conference baseball series at Murakami Stadium yesterday.
The Rainbows (19-11) won the series 2-1 and moved above .500 in the WAC standings with a 5-4 record, the first time they have done that under head coach Mike Trapasso.
Hawaii got clutch hits from Schafer Magana in the fourth and eighth innings and by Matt Inouye and Jaziel Mendoza in the seventh to score all six runs after two were out, much to the delight of the 1,230 fans in attendance on Military Appreciation Day.
Carlsen got into trouble early against the Spartans (15-15-1, 5-7). The visitors loaded the bases with no outs in the first on a double by Ryan Angel, a soft single to center by Anthony Contreras and a four-pitch walk to Kevin Frandsen.
After a visit from Konishi, Carlsen got Brandon Fromm to hit into a double play on the first pitch with Angel scoring. Nate Corrick then grounded out on the next pitch, keeping the potential damage to the one run.
"I told Clary not to worry about the man on third," Konishi said. "We needed a ground ball. We needed outs.
"I made a suggestion and he agreed. We wanted a fastball on the inner half of the plate. After that, Clary pitched, didn't throw. It was almost an identical performance to the one at Louisiana Tech last week."
Hawaii had runners in scoring position with two outs in each of the first three innings and could not produce a "Rainbow Hit" (the team term for a two-hit). But the Rainbows got one in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead.
Rocky Russo beat out a high bouncer that SJSU second baseman Ruben Martinez elected not to charge for an infield single to start the inning. Russo took second on Creighton Kahoali'i's two-out single to left. Both runners scored when Magana lined a 2-1 pitch to right-center field for a double.
"I was just trying to get a pitch to hit, to keep my hands inside the ball so I could see it longer," Magana said. "I had hit one that way my first at-bat that was caught. This one was more on a line."
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Schafer Magana turned a double play against San Jose's Kevin Frandsen during yesterday's game.
Hawaii put three insurance runs on the board in the seventh inning after SJSU starter Brandon Dewing retired the first two Rainbows.
Brian Finegan walked and took second on a ground single to left by Greg Kish.
Right-hander Jose Amaya replaced Dewing on the mound for the Spartans with Inouye due to bat. He lined a 3-1 pitch the opposite way to right, scoring Finegan and sending Kish to third. Mendoza then ripped a liner that skipped past right fielder Travis Bectel for a two-run triple and a 5-1 UH lead.
"I was ahead in the count (3-1) and knew he had to come in the zone," said Inouye, who has learned to hit to the opposite field since coming to UH. "He came with a fastball on the outside and I went with the pitch. It's good to get clutch hits like that. Everyone is doing it."
Carlsen allowed just two hits after the first. Angel singled to start the third but was erased on the second UH double play of the game. Mark Bautista singled in the fifth with two outs. Carlsen, who threw just 95 pitches, got Martinez to bounce into a fielder's choice for the third out.
"All weekend we were trying to get those guys with the inside fastball. We did a good job," Carlsen said. "It used to take me 150 pitches to throw a complete game (in junior college). It's all about throwing strikes and focus."
Trapasso pointed out that Carlsen retired the first Spartan in six of the nine innings.
"The job our pitchers did the last two days was special. Clary had great poise and composure. We'll ask him to do that seven more times," said Trapasso of the seven remaining WAC series.
The final run came in the eighth on a single to left by Magana. That scored Andrew Sansaver, who had walked and moved to second on a sacrifice by Robbie Wilder.
Hawaii plays a two-game nonconference series against Sacramento State tomorrow and Wednesday with 6:35 p.m. start times.
Notes: Finegan, who turned in several outstanding defensive plays at shortstop, was the top Rainbow hitter in the series, going 7-for-11 with three runs batted in. ... Mendoza tracked down two long drives to left-center field that had extra-base potential. ... Frank Mutz, a pitcher with the Rainbows in 1984-85 who spend three season in the Anaheim Angels farm system, is the baseball coach at Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) High School. His team is in town for a series of games against local high school teams.
Hawaii 6, San Jose St. 1
SJSU AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Angel lf 3 1 2 0 Finegan ss 3 1 1 0 Contreras ss 3 0 1 0 Kish rf 3 1 2 0 Frandsen 3b 3 0 0 0 Inouye cf 4 1 1 1 Fromm 1b 3 0 0 0 Mendoza lf 4 0 1 2 Corrick cf 3 0 0 0 Russo 3b 4 1 1 0 Niheu ph 0 0 0 0 Sansaver 1b 2 1 0 0 Lansford dh 4 0 0 0 Thurber dh 3 0 0 0 Becktel rf 3 0 0 0 Wilder ph 0 0 0 0 Bautista c 3 0 1 0 Kahoali'i c 4 1 2 0 Martinez 2b 2 0 0 0 Magana 2b 4 0 2 3 Fernandes ph 1 0 0 0 Pierson 2b 0 0 0 0 Totals 28 1 4 0 Totals 31 6 10 6 SJSU 100 000 000 -- 1 4 1 Hawaii 000 200 31x -- 6 10 1 E--Becktel, Finegan. DP--Hawaii 3. LOB--SJSU 5, Hawaii 6. 2B--Angel, Kish, Magana. 3B--Mendoza. SH--Contreras, Kish, Wilder.
SJSU IP H R ER BB SO Dewing (L, 1-5) 6.2 7 4 4 2 2 Amaya 0.1 2 1 1 0 1 Gemma 0.1 0 1 1 1 0 Farrell 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Carlsen (W, 6-3) 9.0 4 1 1 2 4 WP--Carlsen. HBP--by Carlsen (Angel); by Carlsen (Niheu). Umpires--Gary Montalbo (home), Charles Lyon (first), Dale Luker (third). T--2:20. A--1,230.
