Ball bounces Hawaii’s way in opener

The Rainbows move within a half-game of first place with a victory over Sacramento State

With first place in sight, Hawaii and Sacramento State put their top pitchers on the mound last night at Les Murakami Stadium.

Hawaii   Sac. St. 3 2 Next Up: vs. Sac State, today

The result was the tight pitchers' duel one might expect, with the Rainbows winning 3-2 before a crowd of 1,924 on a play that had to be seen to be believed.

Hawaii (30-12 overall, 8-6 WAC) moved to within half a game of first place with the win in the opener of a three-game Western Athletic Conference series.

Sacramento State starter Matt Campbell and UH starter Steven Wright were not giving either offense very much, but the Hornets (20-25, 8-8) held a 2-1 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning.

Hawaii regained the lead on a bizarre play. Luis Avila singled to center to start the inning. Matt Inouye then lined a two-ball pitch to left-center field.

Brian Conradi, the Hornets' left fielder, attempted a diving catch, but the ball ricocheted off his glove and headed toward the deepest part of center field. Center fielder Jim Strombach, backing up the play, had to retrace his steps to get to the ball.

Meanwhile, Avila scored easily and Inouye, who reached third standing up with a triple, rounded the bag a few steps. Sacramento State second baseman Gary Johnson relayed the ball to third, but the throw went into the Hornet dugout, allowing Inouye to score what proved to be the winning run.

"I just knew he would try to come with a fastball because he was behind in the count. Luckily I saw it and the ball found a hole," Inouye said. "I saw the ball bounce off the guy and I knew I had to get on my horse."

UH coach Mike Trapasso said, "One big play turned it for us. In a game like this, we were fortunate to get it. We blew a couple of opportunities to score runs and fortunately we had the pitching."

Eli Christensen put the 'Bows ahead 1-0 in the third inning. With one out, the junior shortstop drove a 3-1 pitch over the right-field wall just inside the screen attached to the foul pole for his first home run of the season.

"I was looking for an offspeed pitch, but if he threw a fastball I was going to try to go the other way with it. It was a fastball and it went," Christensen said.

Hawaii had a good scoring opportunity in the fourth when Avila doubled to center and Inouye walked to start the inning. The runners advanced on Esteban Lopez's sacrifice bunt but held their bases on Jorge Franco's chopper to third.

Adam Roberts sent a sinking line drive to right-center field on the first pitch from Campbell. But Strombach, a Moanalua graduate, made a diving catch to prevent two runs from scoring.

Getting that reprieve, the Hornets hit Wright hard in the top of the fifth and took a 2-1 lead.

Pat Keiper walked on a full count to start the inning and scored on a one-out double off the left-field wall by Brian Blauser. Conradi's infield single up the middle moved Blauser to third. He scored on Montana Dye's sacrifice fly to the warning track in left.

Christensen singled to open the bottom of the fifth and took second on an errant pickoff throw, but he was stranded there, as Campbell retired the next three hitters easily.

Wright was not as sharp as he was a week earlier, but battled until Darrell Fisherbaugh took over with two outs in the eighth and runners at first and second.

Buddy Morales ripped Fisherbaugh's first pitch toward third. The ball glanced off Justin Frash's glove, but right to the shortstop Christensen, who got the ball to first in time.

"In a close game like this, that ball could have easily gone into left field and we have a tie game. That shows you what a thin line we were on," Trapasso said.

Wright said he was up with his pitches early in the game, but kept pounding the strike zone and let his defense do the work.

"I think that was our best defensive game of the year," said Wright, who improved to 8-2. For the month of April, the junior right-hander is 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA.

Hawaii will start Justin Costi (5-1, 4.41) tonight. He will be opposed by Mitch Lively (0-3, 7.45).

Note: The Rainbow defense has played 39 consecutive innings without committing an error. ... Murakami Stadium manager Glenn Nakaya said there are approximately 300 tickets left for tonight's game.

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