Rainbows hand Louisiana-
Lafayette its first loss

Justin Costi delivered an outstanding pitching performance and the Hawaii Rainbows handed No. 22 Louisiana-Lafayette its first loss of the season, 12-1 last night at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Rainbows swung the bats effectively for the third consecutive game, producing 16 hits in support of Costi, a junior right-hander who joined the team this year from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. Every UH starter had at least one hit.

The Ragin' Cajuns first loss and Hawaii's victory over a ranked team delighted the largest crowd (1,866) of the First Hawaii Title Rainbow Baseball Tourney.

Costi pitched eight innings, allowing four hits and one walk. He fanned three but let his defense do the work with 10 ground balls and 11 fly-ball or pop-up outs.

"Justin was outstanding. It was as good as he can pitch and he has pitched very well for us, but been the tough-luck loser," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso.

"It is an effort on the mound like that that sets the tone and allows us to get some momentum. This is the third consecutive game we have played well."

He threw 105 pitches (64 strikes and 41 balls) and 20 of 28 first-pitch strikes.

Costi, who was 0-2 entering the game, but with a respectable 2.60 earned-run average, said he never got down.

"I knew we had good hitters. I knew as long as I kept pitching and let the defense and batters do the rest, it would work out," said Costi, a four-pitch pitcher.

"I threw more fastballs tonight than I normally do. They hit some of them hard, but they were at people. Normally I throw more changeups. Tonight I had the curve working and even threw a couple of sliders."

Costi and his catcher, Erik Ammon, were named to the all-tournament team. UH right-hander Stephen Bryant was named the most outstanding pitcher. Louisiana-Lafayette outfielder John McCarthy was the most outstanding player.

The 'Bows (9-8 overall, 2-3 tourney) grabbed a quick lead last night with four runs in the second, their biggest inning in the tournament until they scored six in the eighth inning.

Rocky Russo ignited the outburst with a one-out double to deep center. Jeff Piaskowski was hit by a pitch and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Adam Roberts also doubled to deep center driving in both runners.

That ended the night for Cajun starter C.J. Blue. He was replaced by Brandt Sanders.

Roberts advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Jose Castaneda's ground single to right. He moved to third on Joe Spiers' single through the middle and scored on Isaac Omura's first-pitch single through the hole to right.

Hawaii picked up its fifth run in the sixth when Spiers walked on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded, forcing Russo home.

Louisiana-Lafayette's third pitcher, Micah Cockrell, evaded more trouble by getting Erik Ammon on a called third strike and inducing Omura to foul out to third base.

The Cajuns (14-1, 4-1) got on the board with two outs in the seventh when Dallas Morris drove a 2-1 pitch over the left-center-field wall. That was just the third hit off Costi.

Until the home run, only one Ragin' Cajun had reached third base.

Hawaii answered in the bottom of the inning when Luis Avila lined a single to right that a diving John McCarthy was unable to catch.

Matt Inouye sacrificed Avila to second and he came home on Piaskowski's two-out, line-drive single to left.

UC Davis 6, Sacramento State 3

The Bulls (8-9, 2-3) broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the seventh. Lukas Kirby's two-run double to right field was the key hit in the inning.

The Hornets (7-10-1, 2-3) got three hits from junior outfielder Jim Strombach, a Moanalua graduate.

No. 15 Wichita State 2, South Florida 1

The Shockers (15-1, 4-1) scored two runs after two were out on a single to left by Damon Sublett in the first inning.

The Bulls (9-9, 1-4) threatened in the ninth, getting the tying ruin to second with no outs. However, Kyle Touchatt retired the next three batters to earn his third save of the season.

Rainbow Baseball Tourney

aT Les Murakami stadium
Standings

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Louisiana-Lafayette	4	1	.800	--
Wichita State	4	1	.800	--
Sacramento State	2	3	.400	2
UC Davis	2	3	.400	2
Hawaii	2	3	.400	2
South Florida	1	4	.200	3

Yesterday
UC Davis 6, Sacramento St. 3
Wichita St. 2, South Florida 1
Hawaii 10, Louisiana-Lafayette 1

All-Tournament Team
C: Erik Ammon, Hawaii. 1b: Brett Flowers, Sacramento State. 2b: Damon Sublett, Wichita State. 3b: Dallas Morris, Louisiana-Lafayette. SS: Brandon Oliver, UC Davis. OF: Jim Strombach, Sacramento State; Blake Hurlbutt, Wichita State; Josh Landry, Louisiana-Lafayette. DH: Brian Baisley, South Florida. P: Buddy Glass, Louisiana-Lafayette; Justin Costi, Hawaii.
Most Outstanding Player--John McCarthy, Louisiana-Lafayette.
Most Outstanding Pitcher--Stephen Bryant, Hawaii.

Hawaii 12, La.-Lafayette 1

UL	AB	R	H	BI	Hawaii	AB	R	H	BI
Coker cf	4	0	0	0	Spiers ss	4	0	2	1
Landry lf	4	0	1	0	ÊHanzawa phÚss	0	0	0	0
Merendino 2b	4	0	0	0	Ammon c	4	1	1	0
Hawke 1b	3	0	0	0	Omura 2b	5	1	2	2
ÊGuerrero ph	1	0	0	0	Avila 1b	3	1	1	1
McCarthy rf	3	0	0	0	Inouye cf	4	1	1	0
ÊPreciado ph	1	0	0	0	Russo dh	4	3	2	0
Morris 3b	2	1	2	1	Piaskowski lf	2	1	1	1
Lucroy dh	3	0	0	0	ÊDupree prÚlf	1	1	1	2
Parker ss	3	0	0	0	Roberts 3b	3	1	1	2
Massiatte c	3	0	1	0	ÊHee 3b	1	0	1	2
					Castaneda rf	5	2	3	1
Totals	31	1	4	1	Totals	36	12	16	12

UL	000	000	100		--	1	4	1
Hawaii	040	001	16x		--	12	16	1

E--Massiatte; Omura. DP--UL 2, Hawaii 1. LOB--UL 4, Hawaii 11. 2B--Russo; Dupree, Roberts. HR--Morris. SH--Inouye; Piaskowski. SF--Avila. SB--Spiers; Omura.

UL	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Blue (L, 2-1)	1 1/3	4	3	3	0	0
Sanders	3 2/3	4	2	2	2	3
Cockrell	2	2	1	1	1	2
Schambough	2/3	3	4	4	1	1
Moody	0	1	2	2	1	0
Pecoraro	1/3	2	0	0	0	1
Hawaii	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Costi (W, 1-2)	8	4	1	1	1	3
Olsen	1	0	0	0	0	1

WP--Blue; Sanders; Costi. HBP--by Blue (Piaskowski); by Sanders (Roberts); by Pecoraro (Hanzawa).
Umpires--Jim LeBeau (home), Keoki Torres (first), Mike Evans (third).

T--3:04. A--1,866.