[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
LaTech blanks
Rainbows in series
finale
Louisiana Tech right-hander Mitch Tucker dominated the Hawaii batters for nine innings and rode Jeff Walker's run-scoring single to a 1-0 win over the Rainbows yesterday in front of 963 fans at Murakami Stadium.
The win prevented Hawaii from sweeping its first Western Athletic Conference series of the season and kept the 'Bows from taking a two-game lead in the standings over third-place Nevada, a 12-8 loser to visiting Fresno State yesterday.
Tucker, who began the game with a 1-4 record and an 8.83 earned run average, walked four, all with two outs, but struck out seven and retired 14 Rainbows on ground balls.
Hawaii (22-13, 7-5 WAC) managed to hit just two balls out of the infield in the first six innings.
Isaac Omura's single to left with two outs in the fifth was UH's first hit off Tucker.
"He threw two offspeed pitches for strikes to the right-handers and threw changeups to the left-handers. He did a great job and got a break," said Rainbow first baseman Andrew Sansaver.
That break came in the eighth inning and followed a big break for the Rainbows.
Gil Laird drew a leadoff walk from UH starter Clary Carlsen, only the second time the Bulldogs (13-28, 4-11) had their first batter reach base. Carlsen then got Gary Holik to pop up to the mound on a sacrifice bunt attempt for the first out.
The UH coaches then called a pitchout and pinch runner Dusty Bastion was an easy out at second on a steal attempt.
However, the next two batters, each with a one-strike count, were hit by Carlsen pitches. Walker, who also had a one-strike count, grounded a ball through the hole to left scoring Mims Boyce from second.
"I just lost focus for two pitches and that was the ballgame," said Carlsen, a senior right-hander who allowed just three hits in pitching the complete game.
"I thought it was a good pitch, but he (Walker) turned on it. It is frustrating."
The Rainbows, who failed to capitalize when they finally put a runner in scoring position in the seventh on a two-out walk to Sansaver and Nate Thurber's bloop single to center, threatened in the eighth.
Omura singled to right to start the inning. When Tucker threw wide of first on Brian Finegan's sacrifice bunt, he and pinch runner Schafer Magana were safe. But a pitch that bounced a little to the right of Boyce, the LaTech catcher recovered in time to nab Magana at third. Greg Kish than fanned for the third time and Matt Inouye grounded out to end the inning.
"There is not a lot you can say. It was a great college game for the purist, but we just got beat," said UH coach Mike Trapasso. "Tucker threw the game of his life. He kept us off balance all game.
"You can't blame Clary, who pitched great. We got beat because we couldn't get anything else going. This is the kind of game that will come back to bite us in the standings."
The 'Bows' final chance came in the ninth when Sansaver lined a two-out single to right. But Tucker got pinch hitter Josh Green to hit a soft grounder back to the mound and the Bulldogs had plenty of time to catch their 6:30 p.m. flight back to the mainland.
The Rainbows leave tomorrow for a four-game road trip that starts with a nonconference game at San Francisco on Wednesday.
UH then plays at Fresno State this weekend.
WAC standings
Conference All games W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 14 1 .933 -- 30 7 .811 Hawaii 7 5 .583 5 1/2 22 13 .629 Nevada 6 6 .500 6 1/2 20 18 .526 Fresno State 5 7 .417 7 1/2 17 24 .415 San Jose State 6 12 .333 9 1/2 16 21 .457 Louisiana Tech 4 11 .267 10 13 28 .318 San Jose State has one non-conference tie.
Yesterday
Rice 5, San Jose State 3
Fresno State 12, Nevada 8
Lousiana Tech 1, Hawaii 0
Louisiana Tech 1, Hawaii 0
La Tech AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Boyce c 3 1 0 0 Finegan ss 2 0 0 0 Haygood 2b 3 0 0 0 Kish rf 4 0 0 0 Walker lf/rf 4 0 3 1 Inouye cf 3 0 0 0 Spangler 1b 3 0 0 0 Mendoza lf 4 0 0 0 Alford cf 4 0 0 0 Russo 3b 3 0 0 0 Hudson dh 4 0 0 0 Sansaver 1b 3 0 1 0 Burns 3b 3 0 0 0 Thurber dh 3 0 1 0 Laird rf 2 0 0 0 Green ph 1 0 0 0 Bastion pr/lf 0 0 0 0 Kahoali'i c 3 0 0 0 Holik ss 3 0 0 0 Omura 2b 3 0 2 0 Magana pr/2b 0 0 0 0 Totals 29 1 3 1 Totals 29 0 4 0 La Tech 000 000 010 -- 1 3 1 Hawaii 000 000 000 -- 0 4 1 E--Tucker (2), Finegan (11). DP--Hawaii 1. LOB--LaTech 6, Hawaii 7. SH--Finegan (10). SB--Walker (4). CS--Bastion (2), Omura (1), Magana (2).
La Tech IP H R ER BB SO Tucker (W, 2-4) 9.0 4 0 0 4 7 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Carlsen (L, 6-3) 9.0 3 1 1 3 5 HBP--by Carlsen (Boyce), by Carlsen (Haygood). Umpires--Phil Benson (home), Joe Burleson (first), Don Greman (third). T--2:15. A--936.
Coming up
Wednesday: at San Francisco. Friday-Sunday: at Fresno State. April 29-May 1: vs. Nevada. May 7-9: vs. Rice. May 13-15: vs. Fresno State. May 21-23: at Nevada. May 25: at Pacific. May 28-30: at San Jose State.