[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
UH gets first win
at Nevada
Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso has stated many times this season that the Rainbow fortunes always begin with effective pitching.
Yesterday, starter Stephen Bryant pitched six solid innings at Peccole Park and Darrell Fisherbaugh made the right pitches at the right time in three innings of relief work to help the 'Bows win 13-7, their first victory over 11 outings over four seasons in Reno, Nev.
The mound staff received excellent offensive support from the UH hitters, who shrugged off Friday's nightmarish loss to collect 19 hits in the victory in the second of the three-game Western Athletic Conference series.
"I told the players before the game that they should not care about the field, the weather, the umpires or Nevada, that they should not let any of these things take away from our game," Trapasso said. "Our guys stayed focused when all the yelling and screaming started from the Nevada side. We are swinging the bats well and we had to."
The win halted Hawaii's four-game losing streak and was the 30th triumph of the season, equaling the Rainbows' win total of a year ago.
Nursing a 9-7, ninth-inning lead, Hawaii (30-20 overall, 13-12 WAC) provided Fisherbaugh with four insurance runs.
Brian Finegan doubled down the left-field line and took third on an infield single by Greg Kish, his fourth hit of the game. Jaziel Mendoza's infield single up the first-base line scored Finegan and moved Kish to second. Rocky Russo followed with a two-run double, his fourth hit, off the right-field wall. He would take third on Andrew Sansaver's single to left and score on a fielder's choice.
Fisherbaugh, who settled the game in the seventh after Nevada (29-26, 13-13) cut its deficit to 9-5, allowed two runs in the eighth but survived a bases-loaded, no-out situation. Sansaver grabbed Joe Mercer's grounder, stepped on first, then threw to catcher Matt Inouye in time for him to tag out Brian Gazerro. Fisherbaugh then fanned Chris Gimenez, who already had a pair of two-run homers, to end the inning.
The freshman right-hander faced four batters in the ninth. He had defensive help on Carlos Madrid's one-out single after Baker Krukow, on base with a leadoff walk, was thrown out at third: right fielder Kish to second baseman Isaac Omura to third baseman Schafer Magana.
"It was a strange outing for Fish because he could not throw strike one on the first pitch and walked guys," Trapasso said. "They knew it and were taking a strike, but Fish was able to come back with a big pitch on the make-or-break pitch."
Bryant earned his eighth victory by holding the Wolf Pack to six hits and five runs in six-plus innings. He struck out eight to equal his season high and walked four.
"It was a tough decision to send him out for the seventh inning because he was up to 124 pitches," Trapasso said. "He had his curve, changeup and fastball working, but when he walked the leadoff batter, I knew it was time to make a change."
UH scored in the first when Finegan singled, took second on a wild pitch, moved to third on Kish's infield single off the pitcher's glove, and came home on a double-play ball.
Despite striking out seven Nevada batters in the first four innings, Bryant trailed 2-1 entering the fifth. The Wolf Pack took the lead in the bottom of the fourth after Mercer singled and scored on Gimenez's 11th homer of the season.
UH responded with a three-run fifth that began with a double to left-center field by Kish.
He moved to third on a ground out. Mendoza was hit by a pitch and took second on a passed ball. Russo's single up the middle brought both runners home. Russo advanced to third on Sansaver's double to left-center and scored for a 4-2 UH lead on Omura's high bouncer to first.
The 'Bows loaded the bases with one out in the sixth.
Robbie Wilder was hit by a pitch, Kish walked and Inouye singled to left, filling the sacks. Josh Green, running for Wilder, scored when Mendoza singled to left. Kish scored to make it 6-2 when Russo walked on a 3-2 pitch.
The Wolf Pack scored twice in the bottom of the inning as Gimenez belted his second two-run homer over the wall in left after Mercer walked.
The 'Bows answered in the top of the seventh when Inouye homered over the left-field wall for a 9-4 lead.
Hawaii 13, Nevada 7
Hawaii AB R H BI FSU AB R H BI Finegan ss 6 3 3 0 Gazerro cf 2 1 0 0 Kish rf 5 4 4 0 Hayes c 5 0 4 1 Inouye c 6 1 2 3 Butler rf 4 0 1 1 Mendoza lf 4 2 2 2 Mercer 3b 4 2 1 0 Russo 3b 5 1 4 5 Gimenez lf 5 2 2 4 Magana pr3b 0 1 0 0 Krukow dh 3 0 1 0 Sansaver 1b 4 0 3 0 Streelman 1b 5 0 0 0 Omura 2b 4 0 0 2 Madrid 2b 3 1 1 0 Thurber dh 6 0 0 0 Marcial ss 5 1 1 1 Wilder cf 1 0 0 0 Green prcf 2 1 1 0 Totals 43 13 19 12 Totals 36 7 11 7 Hawaii 100 032 304 -- 13 19 0 Nevada 000 202 120 -- 7 11 0 DP--Hawaii 1, Nevada 1. LOB--Hawaii 13, Nevada 11. 2B--Finegan (11), Kish (9), Russo 2 (7), Sansaver (10), Hayes (9), Marcial (11). HR--Inouye (4), Gimenez 2 (12). SH--Sansaver (14).
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Bryant (W, 8-4) 6 6 5 5 4 8 McDowell 0 2 0 0 0 0 Fisherbaugh (S, 6) 3 3 2 2 4 4 Nevada IP H R ER BB SO Scott 3 5 1 1 3 1 Johnson (L, 2-3) 2 3 4 4 0 1 Simpson 1/3 2 1 1 2 0 McCarthy 1 2/3 3 3 3 0 1 Gottier 1 3 2 2 1 0 Cummings 1/3 3 2 2 0 0 Gilbertson 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 WP--Scott 2 (9). HBP--by Scott (Mendoza), by Johnson (Mendoza), by Johnson (Wilder), by Fisherbaugh (Madrid). PB--Inouye (5), Hayes (11). Umpires--Dan Payne (home), Ray Belfiore (first), Chad McCardell (third).
T--4:04. A--1,274.