[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
UH clinches series win
The Hawaii Rainbows won their fourth Western Athletic Conference series of the season and put themselves in a position to sweep their first three-game league series tonight.
The Rainbows used two big innings to build an 8-1 lead, then held off the Nevada Wolf Pack for an 8-4 victory before 1,312 fans in the second game of the WAC baseball series at Murakami Stadium.
"You come off a tough 1-0 ballgame and, as coaches, we talk to the players before the next game and say lets put a zero up in the top of the first inning and go out and score some runs in the bottom of the inning. You can draw it up that way, but it rarely happens," said UH coach Mike Trapasso.
Junior right-hander Stephen Bryant pitched into the seventh inning and picked up his sixth win of the season. He had help from Guy McDowell, who saved his second game of the season with three innings of one-hit relief.
McDowell escaped a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the eighth with a double-play ball, then got another twin killing as he faced just three batters in the ninth.
"When I get behind in the count like I did in the eighth, I tend to baby the ball, steer it, rather than throwing it. My teammates all know it and give me support," said McDowell. "I went into the dugout and refocused for the ninth."
Hawaii (26-15 overall, 10-7 WAC) turned three consecutive base hits into four first-inning runs after Bryant had weathered a two-on, one-out situation in the top of the inning without giving up a run.
Andrew Sansaver drew a one-out walk from Nevada starter Adam Colton but was forced at second on Matt Inouye's grounder to third.
Jaziel Mendoza singled to left-center on the first pitch, Inouye moving to third. Rocky Russo's line single to center scored Inouye, with Mendoza moving to second. Isaac Omura singled to center on a 3-0 pitch, scoring Mendoza. Creighton Kahoali'i ripped Colton's first offering over center fielder Brian Gazerro's head for a two-run double.
"I knew he (Colton) would be challenging the zone because he had been pitching from behind. They have started me off with offspeed pitches both games, so I was looking for one. It was a curve," said Kahoali'i.
Nevada (23-22, 8-9) scored in the top of the second on Joe Mercer's leadoff double to right-center field and consecutive fly outs.
Jacob Butler doubled into the left-field corner to start the Wolf Pack fourth, but he stayed there as Bryant retired the next three batters on a strikeout, fly ball to left and another strikeout.
One-out singles to left and right by Nate Thurber and Robbie Wilder in the fourth ignited the Rainbows' second four-run inning. Mercer made a sprawling stop on the artificial surface behind the third-base bag of Brian Finegan's hot shot but had no play, leaving the bases loaded.
Thurber scored and the other runners moved up a base on a wild pitch by Nevada reliever Patrick Mason. Sansaver followed with a two-run single to center on a 3-2 pitch, scoring Wilder and Finegan. Mason's wild pickoff throw to first allowed Sansaver to take third and he scored on a passed ball for an 8-1 UH lead.
A one-out walk to Chris Gimenez, Mercer's hit-and-run single to right that sent Gimenez to third and a sacrifice fly by Erick Streelman accounted for the Wolf Pack's second run in the sixth.
Bryant lasted just three batters into the seventh as Nevada cut the UH lead to 8-4.
Carlos Madrid singled to center and scored on Robert Marcial's triple to right-center field. When Bryant was slow covering first base, Derek McNeil won a foot race with Sansaver to the bag for an RBI infield single. Guy McDowell came out of the bullpen to retire the next three hitters.
"Steve pitched well enough to keep us ahead, although he did not have his best stuff," said Trapasso. "He had trouble staying down in the (strike) zone and lost his focus once we got the big lead."
Kahoali'i added, "Steve battled for us. He still worked for us even though it was not his best outing."
Clary Carlsen starts for UH tonight in the 6:35 series finale.
WAC standings
Conference All games W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 16 1 .941 -- 33 7 .825 Hawaii 10 7 .588 6 26 15 .634 Fresno State 8 8 .500 7 1/2 20 25 .444 Nevada 8 9 .471 8 23 22 .511 San Jose State 7 14 .333 11 18 24 .430 Louisiana Tech 4 14 .222 12 1/2 13 31 .295 San Jose State has one non-conference tie.
Yesterday
Fresno St. 12, Louisiana Tech 10
Hawaii 8, Nevada 4
San Jose St. 4, Sacramento St. 3
Today
Sacramento St. at San Jose St.
Fresno St. at Louisiana Tech
Nevada at Hawaii, 6:35 p.m.
Hawaii 8, Nevada 4
Nevada AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI McNeil dh 3 0 1 1 Finegan ss 5 1 1 0 Psaradelis ph 0 0 0 0 Sansaver 1b 4 1 3 2 Gazerro cf 5 0 2 0 Inouye rf 3 1 0 0 Hayes c 5 0 1 0 Mendoza lf 4 1 2 0 Butler rf 4 0 1 0 Russo 3b 4 1 1 1 Gimenez lf 2 1 0 0 Magana 3b 0 0 0 0 Mercer 3b 4 1 2 0 Omura 2b 3 1 1 1 Streelman 1b 2 0 0 1 Kahoali'i c 4 0 1 2 Madrid 2b 3 1 2 1 Thurber dh 3 1 1 0 Marcial ss 4 1 1 1 Wilder cf 4 1 1 0 Totals 32 4 10 4 Totals 34 8 11 6 Nevada 010 001 200 -- 4 10 1 Hawaii 400 400 00x -- 8 11 1 E--Mason, Kahoali'i. DP--Nevada 1, Hawaii 2. LOB--Nevada 8, Hawaii 7. 2B--Butler, Mercer, Kahoali'i. 3B--Marcial. SF--Streelman, Madrid. SB--Gimenez. CS--Mercer. Reached on CI--Psaradelis.
Nevada IP H R ER BB SO Colton (L, 3-1) 3 1/3 7 6 6 1 0 Mason 1/3 2 2 1 0 1 Harbaugh 4 1/3 2 0 0 3 6 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Bryant (W, 6-3) 6 9 4 4 2 3 McDowell (S, 2) 3 1 0 0 2 3 Bryant pitched to three batters in the seventh inning.
WP--Colton, Mason. HBP--by Mason (Inouye). PB--Hayes. Umpires--John DeLuca (plate), Danny Mascorro (first), Gary Montalbo (third).T--3:03. A--1,312.