[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
Fresno State batters
’Bows in series finale
FRESNO, Calif. » The Hawaii Rainbows fell behind 6-1, rallied for an 8-6 lead, but succumbed to seven unanswered runs in the late innings to lose the finale of a three-game Western Athletic Conference series to Fresno State 13-8.
The 'Bows return home with a 2-2 record on the road trip, but disappointed they could not win two conference games here at Pete Beiden Field.
Clary Carlsen started for UH and just was not effective as the Bulldogs (19-25, 7-8 WAC) raked the senior right-hander for nine hits and six runs in 1 1/3 innings.
"They loaded their lineup with seven lefties. That is not a good fit for Clary and he didn't have good stuff," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso. "They hit him solid and everything found holes through the infield."
Andrew Sansaver started the UH comeback with a solo home run in the second, his second of the series. The Rainbows closed the gap to 6-4 in the third on an RBI double by Jaziel Mendoza and a two-run homer over the left-field wall by Rocky Russo.
Two homers in the fifth, a solo shot by Brian Finegan leading off the inning and a two-run blast to left by Matt Inouye two batters later, put the 'Bows up 7-6. They made it 8-6 in the sixth when Finegan singled to center, took second on Schafer Magana's sacrifice bunt and scored on consecutive fielder's choices.
Guy McDowell, who replaced Carlsen in the second and held FSU scoreless for the next three innings, ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth when he walked DeAndre Miller to start the inning. Nick Moresi singled to left. Miller moved to third on Ryan Haag's flyout and scored on Chris Patrick's sacrifice fly to cut UH's lead to 8-7.
Richie Robnett was walked intentionally. Brandon Marcelli ruined the strategy by belting a 3-1 pitch for a three-run homer. When David Gomez followed with a solo drive over the right-field wall, McDowell, who pitched in three of the four games on the trip, was done.
"It was stupidity on the head coach's part," Trapasso said. "It was a total farce on my part. I walked Robnett with the intention of bringing Darrell Fisherbaugh in to face Marcelli and didn't make the move.
"Guy did a great job throwing zeros, settling the game down for us. It was the second time this week he has done that. It's just a shame I didn't make the move."
Robnett homered off Fisherbaugh to start the eighth and Christian Vitters doubled home the final FSU run.
Left-hander Gil Infante, the fourth Fresno State pitcher, shut the Rainbows (24-15, 8-7) down with one hit over the final 3 2/3 innings. He retired nine straight batters before giving up a two-out single to Russo in the ninth.
"After Saturday night (when Trapasso did not think the Rainbows competed well), today's effort was a big positive for us," said Trapasso. "We were down 6-1 and there was no reason for anyone to think we would come back. But, we battled and clawed all the way to the end. Our players need to go home with their heads high.
"We won't have many games where we give up 18 hits. When you do, you have to respond and we did. I just feel I let them down. I'll be kicking myself all the way home for not making that move."
Hawaii opens a three-game WAC series against Nevada on Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium. The Rainbows and Wolf Pack are tied for second in the WAC.
WAC standings
Conference All games W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 16 1 .941 -- 33 7 .825 Hawaii 8 7 .533 7 24 15 .615 Nevada 8 7 .533 7 23 19 .548 Fresno State 7 8 .467 8 19 25 .432 San Jose State 7 14 .333 11 17 23 .425 Louisiana Tech 4 13 .235 12 13 30 .302 San Jose State has one non-conference tie.
Yesterday
Fresno State 13, Hawaii 8
San Jose State 10, Nevada 3
Rice at Louisiana Tech, cancelled
Fresno State 13, Hawaii 8
Hawaii AB R H BI FSU AB R H BI Finegan ss 5 2 3 1 Haag 2b 5 2 2 0 Magana 2b 4 1 1 0 Patrick ss 4 2 3 1 Inouye cf 5 2 1 2 Robnett cf 3 3 3 2 Mendoza lf 5 1 1 2 Marcelli c 3 2 2 5 Russo 3b 5 1 3 2 Gomez dh 3 1 1 2 Sansaver 1b 5 1 1 1 Vitters 3b 5 1 2 2 Thurber dh 1 0 0 0 Esparza 1b 5 0 1 0 Kahoali'i c 3 0 0 0 Miller, D. lf 3 1 2 1 Green rf 4 0 0 0 Moresi prrf 5 1 2 0 Totals 37 8 10 8 Totals 36 13 18 13 Hawaii 013 031 000 -- 8 10 0 Fresno State 420 005 02x -- 13 18 3 E--Haag (9); Marcelli (4); Vitters (12). DP--Fresno State 2. LOB--Hawaii 7, Fresno State 8. 2B--Mendoza (5); Haag (10); Vitters (8). HR--Finegan (1); Inouye (2); Russo (4); Sansaver (2); Robnett (8); Marcelli (5); Gomez (2). SH--Magana (8); Robnett (1); Marcelli (4); Gomez (1). SF--Patrick (2); Gomez (1). SB--Haag (11); Robnett (17).
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Carlsen 1 1/3 9 6 6 0 1 McDowell (L, 1-1) 4 1/3 5 5 5 2 1 Fisherbaugh 2 1/3 4 2 2 1 Fresno State IP H R ER BB SO Miller, B 3 4 4 1 1 3 Griffin 1 1/3 3 3 3 1 0 Scott 1 2 1 1 1 0 Infante (W, 1-0) 3 2/3 1 0 0 0 3 HBP--by Scott (Kahoali'i), by Fisherbaugh (Miller, D.). BK--Miller, B. (4). Umpires--Ken Bayne (home), Bill Speck (first), Rick Saxton (third). T--3:10. A--2,253 (tickets issued).