FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii starting pitcher Justin Costi gave up four hits and two earned runs in five innings yesterday.

Owls silence ’Bow bats

Hawaii again manages only four hits
in a rubber-game loss to Rice

The Rice Owls wrapped up their final Western Athletic Conference visit to Les Murakami Stadium with a 3-1 win over the anemic-hitting Hawaii Rainbows yesterday afternoon before 1,390 fans.

RICE 3 HAWAII 1 NEXT UP at California, Wednesday

The Owls took the series, two games to one, behind Joe Savery, who pitched eight innings, and Adam Rodgers' two-run double that broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning.

UH starter Justin Costi and Savery matched pitch for pitch for five innings.

The 15th-ranked Owls threatened in the top of the fourth when Josh Rodriguez walked on four pitches and Adam Hale ripped a 0-2 pitch to right for a single, Rodriguez stopping at second.

Costi worked out of trouble by picking off Rodriguez at second, fanning Greg Buchanan and retiring Rodgers on a fly ball to left.

The Rainbows (18-22, 5-10) missed a chance to get on the scoreboard first when they left the bases full in the second inning.

With one out, Nate Thurber singled to left center and stopped at second when Luis Avila grounded a single to right. Savery, who had fanned 71 in 62 innings entering the game, made Esteban Lopez the first of his seven whiffs yesterday, but walked Robbie Wilder to load the bases.

Joe Spiers took two fastballs for strikes, then sent a lazy fly to right that Lance Pendleton caught in foul territory to end the inning.

Another prime opportunity for the 'Bows to get on the scoreboard fizzled in the fourth after Savery walked Matt Inouye and Thurber to start the inning.

That brought Rice coach Wayne Graham out to the mound. Savery, a freshman left-hander, then struck out Avila on three pitches after the UH first baseman fouled off the first two offerings trying to get a sacrifice bunt down.

Savery also fanned Lopez and ended the inning by getting Wilder on a slow bouncer to short.

"When you get pitches to hit, you have to hit them, and we are not doing that," said UH coach Mike Trapasso. "We pitch well, but that doesn't matter when you only get four runs and 14 hits in three games. That should be one game, not a series."

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Isaac Omura tagged second and attempted to turn a double play. The runner at first was safe.

The Owls (26-13, 8-7) took a 1-0 lead in the fifth with an unearned run.

Danny Lehmann was safe at first to open the inning on a throwing error by UH second baseman Isaac Omura. Lehmann took second on Matt Moake's sacrifice bunt and scored on Clay Reichenbach's single to left.

Hawaii tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning.

Spiers and Schafer Magana singled to center to start the fifth. Spiers took third on Omura's fly to center and scored on Rocky Russo's safety-squeeze bunt up the first-base line.

Rice responded in the top of the sixth when Rodgers doubled to the gap in right-center to score Rodriguez, who led off with a single to center, and Hale, who walked. That ended Costi's day on the mound.

"I fell behind on the first guy and walked the next one when there were some close pitches," said Costi. "I put the blame on myself most of the time. No matter what the offense does, I have to pitch my game and not give up runs."

Steven Wright relieved and got the first out when Buchanan sacrificed the runners up a base. After surrendering Rodgers' double on a 2-1 pitch, Wright retired the next two batters.

In the series, the 'Bows managed just three hits after the fifth inning and two came with two outs on singles by Inouye and Thurber in the eighth yesterday. Overall, UH was 14-for-86 (.163) at the plate.

"We had our opportunities. Even against the Rice (pitching) staff last year, four runs and 14 hits would not have been acceptable. We have to quit complaining," said Trapasso.

The Rainbows leave tomorrow for a four-game road trip. It begins with a nonconference game at California on Wednesday and includes a weekend series at San Jose State.

WAC standings

	Conference				Overall
	W	L	Pct.	GB	W	L
Nevada	8	4	.667	--	19	14
San Jose State*	9	6	.600	1/2	20	14
Rice	8	7	.533	1 1/2	26	13
Louisiana Tech	7	8	.467	2 1/2	15	22
Fresno State	5	7	.417	3	19	22
Hawaii	5	10	.333	4 1/2	18	22

* -- San Jose State has one nonconference tie

Yesterday
San Jose State 13, Nevada 5
Louisiana Tech 10, Fresno State 7
Rice 3, Hawaii 1

Rice 3, Hawaii 1

Rice	AB	R	H	BI	Hawaii	AB	R	H	BI
Henley cf	4	0	0	0	Spiers ss	5	1	1	0
Pendleton rf	4	0	0	0	Magana 3b	5	0	2	0
Rodriguez ss	3	1	2	0	Omura 2b	4	0	0	0
Hale lf	3	1	1	0	Russo dh	3	0	0	1
Buchanan 3b	3	0	0	0	Inouye rfÚcf	3	0	1	0
Rodgers dh	3	0	1	2	Thurber lf	3	0	2	0
ÊFriday pr	0	0	0	0	Avila 1b	4	0	1	0
ÊMyers dh	1	0	0	0	Lopez c	3	0	0	0
Lehmann c	4	1	1	0	ÊRoberts ph	1	0	0	0
ÊReagan c	0	0	0	0	ÊAmmon pr	0	0	0	0
Moake 2b	3	0	1	0	Wilder cf	1	0	0	0
Reichenbach 1b	3	0	1	1	ÊPiaskowski rf	1	0	0	0
Totals	31	3	7	3	Totals	33	1	7	1
Rice	000	012	000	--	3	7	1
Hawaii	000	010	000	--	1	7	2

E--Moake; Omura; Wright. LOB--Rice 9; Hawaii 10. 2B--Rodgers. SH--Rodriguez; Buchanan; Moake; Russo. SB--Inouye. CS--Wilder.

Rice	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Savery (W, 4-4)	8	7	1	1	3	7
St. Clair (S, 1)	1	0	0	0	0	1
Hawaii	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Costi (L, 1-4)	5	4	3	2	2	1
Wright	1 1/3	1	0	0	2	0
Fisherbaugh	2 2/3	2	0	0	0	0

HBP--by Costi (Henley); by Savery (Wilder).
Umpires--Darrel Mason (plate), Joe Burleson (first), Billy Speck (third).
T--2:42. A--1,390.