[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
Nevada avoids sweep
by ’Bows
That highly desired three-game sweep of a Western Athletic Conference baseball series remains a goal the Hawaii Rainbows have yet to attain in 2004.
The Nevada Wolf Pack took care of that last night at Murakami Stadium with an 8-3 victory in the series finale before 2,165 fans, the second-biggest turnstile crowd of the season.
Ryan Rodriguez, a freshman right-hander who gave up single runs in the first three innings, blanked the Rainbows for the next four innings while his teammates built a comfortable lead.
After being nicked for a run-scoring single by Matt Inouye in the third, Rodriguez retired 10 of the next 11 Rainbows. He mixed his fastball, slurve and changeup well enough to keep the UH hitters off balance at the plate.
During that time, the Wolf Pack (24-22, 9-9 WAC) broke a 3-3 tie and went on to score five unanswered runs.
The Rainbows (26-16, 10-8) hold on to second place, a game ahead of Nevada, but Fresno State can move into a tie for second with a doubleheader sweep of Louisiana Tech today.
Brian Finegan one-hopped a drive off the right-field fence for a double to start the UH first. He scored on consecutive groundouts by Andrew Sansaver and Inouye for a quick 1-0 Rainbow lead.
Hawaii starter Clary Carlsen prevented a Wolf Pack response in the top of the second after Nevada put runners on second and third. Carlsen struck out Austin Graham and retired Robert Marcial on a ground ball to first to end the inning.
Isaac Omura put another UH run on the board with his first home run of the season. He drove a 3-1 pitch from Rodriguez over the right-center-field wall in the second.
This time, the Wolf Pack had an answer, taking a 3-2 lead on Joe Mercer's RBI single and Chris Gimenez's towering 2-run drive over the right-field wall, his ninth homer of the season.
The 'Bows tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the inning when Sansaver's ground ball past a diving Carlos Madrid at second rolled to the wall for a double. Inouye drilled a one-strike offering to center for an RBI single.
Nevada came back to take a 5-3 lead in the fourth and pulled away for the win.
"I thought Clary was overthrowing the first couple of innings. He was struggling with his release point," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "When he stopped overthrowing, he had no rhythm."
WAC standings
Conference All games W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 16 1 .941 -- 33 7 .825 Hawaii 10 8 .556 6 1/2 26 16 .619 Nevada 9 9 .500 7 1/2 24 22 .522 Fresno State 8 8 .500 7 1/2 20 25 .444 San Jose State 7 14 .333 11 18 25 .420 Louisiana Tech 4 14 .222 12 1/2 13 31 .295 San Jose State has one non-conference tie.
Yesterday
Sacramento St. 6, San Jose St. 5
Fresno St. at Louisiana Tech (ppd. rain)
Nevada 8, Hawaii 3
Tomorrow
Fresno St. at Louisiana Tech (2)
Sacramento St. at San Jose St.
Nevada 8, Hawaii 3
Nevada AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Gazerro cf 3 1 0 0 Finegan ss 5 1 2 0 Hayes c 4 1 1 1 Sansaver 1b 4 1 2 0 Butler rf 5 0 3 1 Inouye rf 5 0 2 2 Mercer 3b 2 1 1 2 Mendoza lf 4 0 0 0 Newman pr2b 0 0 0 0 Russo 3b 4 0 0 0 Gimenez lf 5 2 3 2 Omura 2b 3 1 1 1 Streelman 1b 5 0 3 1 Kahoali'i c 4 0 0 0 Madrid 2b3b 4 0 0 0 Thurber dh 3 0 1 0 Graham dh 3 1 0 0 Wilder cf 4 0 0 0 Psaradelis ph 1 0 0 0 Marcial ss 3 2 2 0 Totals 35 8 13 7 Totals 36 3 8 3 Nevada 003 212 000 -- 8 13 2 Hawaii 111 000 000 -- 3 8 0 E--Mercer, Marcial. DP--Nevada 1. LOB--Nevada 12, Hawaii 9. 2B--Finegan, Sansaver. 3B--Gimenez. HR--Giminez, Omura. SH--Gazerro, Madrid. SF--Hayes, Mercer. SB--Finegan. CS--Mercer.
Nevada IP H R ER BB SO Rodriguez (W, 3-6) 7 8 3 3 1 6 Scott 2 0 0 0 1 1 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Carlsen (L, 6-5) 4 1/3 9 6 6 1 3 Rawlins 2/3 1 2 2 1 1 Withers 2 2 0 0 2 4 Mead 1 0 0 0 1 2 Wright 1 1 0 0 0 0 WP--Rodriguez, Carlsen, Withers 2. HBP--by Carlsen (Graham); by Rawlins (Gazerro); by Rawlins (Hayes); by Rodriguez (Omura). Umpires--Danny Mascorro (plate), Gary Montalbo (first), John DeLuca (third).
T--3:23. A--2,165.