[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
Hawaii's Creighton Kahoali'i was called safe at third base after Rice's Adam Morris tried to tag him out last night. UH is the only team to beat the Owls in the WAC.
’Bows topple No. 3 Owls
Hawaii comes back from a 5-2
deficit to hand Rice just its
second loss in conference play
The Hawaii Rainbows used the gifts the Rice Owls gave them to win the opener of a three-game Western Athletic Conference series 7-5 last night before 2,167 fans at Murakami Stadium.
Three of Hawaii's runs crossed the plate due to a wild pitch or a hit batter and three players who scored reached base via a walk or by being hit with a pitch.
Rice starter Philip Humber was not as effective as he was March 20, when he blanked UH 3-0, struck out 17, walked two and hit a batter. Last night the junior right-hander walked three, fanned six, uncorked three wild pitches and hit five batters.
Rainbow starter Ricky Bauer had his struggles as Rice managed to score in four consecutive innings starting with the second, but Bauer prevented a big inning and left the game after retiring the Owls in order in the seventh.
Guy McDowell pitched the eighth and ninth innings and needed just 12 pitches to retire the six Rice batters he faced in order.
Andrew Sansaver's bloop single to left had given McDowell an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. The hit scored pinch runner Andrew Castillo from second base.
"We took advantage of Humber not being as sharp as he normally is and our pitching put up four zeros at the end," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "Guy really had great stuff tonight.
"Ricky didn't have his best stuff, but his key was putting zeros in the sixth and seventh innings after Rice had pecked away to take the lead."
Bauer acknowledged he was not sharp, but credited his defense with getting him out of jams. The highlight was an over-the-shoulder catch by Matt Inouye in center field on a blast by Adam Morris in the second.
The 'Bows (28-16, 11-8 WAC) had a chance to score in the first inning when Humber hit Brian Finegan, who was sacrificed to second by Sansaver, and Inouye. But Jaziel Mendoza fouled off two pitches, then took a called third strike and Isaac Omura flied out to left.
The No. 3-ranked Owls (34-8, 16-2) took advantage of a leadoff walk on a 3-2 pitch from Bauer to Paul Janish to score a run in the second. Janish took second on Adam Rodgers' sacrifice bunt and scored on Josh Rodriguez's single up the middle.
Hawaii bounced back with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Creighton Kahoali'i drove Humber's pitch to the wall in center for a triple and scored on Schafer Magana's ground out. Greg Kish, back in the lineup as the designated hitter after missing six games with a sprained left ankle, doubled to center. He advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Josh Green's single to center.
Kahoali'i left the game an inning later due to pain in his right knee that was injured when he slid into third. Inouye came in to catch and Robbie Wilder went to center. However, after one at-bat, Wilder came out because he tweaked his hamstring again. That forced Trapasso to move Josh Green to center, Mendoza from left to right and Nate Thurber to left.
Kish, who is not close to being 100 percent, talked Trapasso into putting in the lineup as the DH just before game time.
"This was my goal, to get back by this date," Kish said. "The Adrenelan and excitement will carry me through. You wouldn't believe how tight my ankle is wrapped."
Bauer paid the price for hitting Chris Kolkhorst with a pitch with one down in the third. Lance Pendleton and Austin Davis followed with line singles to right to score Kolkhorst and tie the score at 2.
The Owls took a 3-2 lead with an unearned run in the fourth. Mendoza misplayed Rodgers' line drive into a two-base error to start the inning, and Matt Ueckert's one-out single to center scored Rodgers.
Rice increased its lead to 5-2 in the fifth. With Davis on base via a fielder's choice, Owls coach Wayne Graham put the hit-and-run on. Janish executed the play to perfection. He homered over both walls in left, his ninth roundtripper of the season.
Hawaii tied the score at 5 in the bottom of the inning with a lot of help from Humber.
Kish walked to start the inning and took second on a single to right by Finegan, playing in his 100th consecutive game since transferring to UH from Cuesta College last year. Sansaver walked to load the bases.
Humber then hit Inouye and Mendoza with consecutive pitches, forcing home two runs. Sansaver scored on Omura's infield single to deep second.
The Rainbows went ahead 6-5 in the sixth without the benefit of a hit as Humber struggled with his control. He hit Magana with his first pitch of the inning. Kish sacrificed Magana to second. Magana took third and scored on wild pitches.
"This is a good win for our program, but it is just one game," Trapasso said. "We will face an equally good pitcher in (Wade) Townsend tomorrow.
"I thought the crowd was a big factor for us. It was by far the crowd with the most energy this year."
WAC standings
Conference All games W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 16 2 .889 -- 34 8 .810 Hawaii 11 8 .579 5 1/2 28 16 .636 Nevada 10 9 .526 6 1/2 25 22 .532 Fresno State 9 10 .474 7 1/2 21 27 .438 San Jose State 7 15 .318 11 19 27 .415 Louisiana Tech 6 15 .286 11 1/2 15 32 .319 San Jose State has one non-conference tie.
Yesterday
Nevada 19, Louisiana Tech 3
Fresno St. 10, San Jose St. 1
Hawaii 7, Rice 5
Today
Louisiana Tech at Nevada
San Jose St. at Fresno St.
Rice at Hawaii, 6:35 p.m.
Tomorrow
Louisiana Tech at Nevada
San Jose St. at Fresno St.
Rice at Hawaii, 1:05 p.m.
Hawaii 7, Rice 5
Rice AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Kolkhorst cf 3 1 1 0 Finegan ss 3 1 1 0 Pendleton rf 4 0 2 0 Sansaver 1b 3 1 1 1 Davis lf 4 1 1 1 Inouye cf/c 3 0 0 1 Janish ss 3 2 1 2 Mendoza lf/rf 3 0 0 1 Rodgers c 3 1 0 0 Omura 2b 4 0 2 1 Rodriguez 2b 4 0 1 1 Kahoali'i c 1 1 1 0 Ueckert 1b 4 0 2 1 Wilder cf 1 0 0 0 Morris 3b 3 0 0 0 Thurber ph/lf 2 0 0 0 Hale dh 4 0 0 0 Magana 3b 2 1 0 1 Kish dh 2 2 1 0 Castillo pr 0 1 0 0 Green rf/cf 4 0 2 1 Totals 32 5 8 5 Totals 28 7 8 6 Rice 011 120 000 -- 5 8 0
Hawaii 020 031 01x -- 7 8 1E--Mendoza. DP--Hawaii 2. LOB--Rice 4, Hawaii 8. 2B--Kish. 3B--Kahoali'i. HR--Janish. SH--Rodgers, Morris, Sansaver, Kish. CS--Green.
Rice IP H R ER BB SO Humber (L, 9-2) 6.2 5 6 5 3 7 Degerman 1.1 3 1 1 1 2 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Bauer (W, 8-2) 7 8 5 4 1 3 McDowell (S, 3) 2 0 0 0 0 0 WP--Humber 3. HBP--by Humber (Finegan), by Humber (Inouye), by Bauer (Kolkhorst), by Humber (Inouye), by Humber (Mendoza), by Humber (Magana). PB--Rodgers. Umpires--Billy Speck (home plate), Gary Montalbo(first), Kelly Gonzales (third).
T--2:50. A--2,167.
