ASSOCIATED PRESS Hawaii starter Justin Costi walked off the field after being pulled in the fourth inning during the Rainbows' first-round game against Kansas yesterday at the NCAA tournament regional in Corvallis, Ore.

Kansas drops UH

The Rainbows lack pitching prowess in the first-round loss

CORVALLIS, Ore. » The Hawaii Rainbows' success through the first 58 games of 2006 started on the mound.

Yesterday in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Corvallis Regional, the No. 3-seeded 'Bows did not get the pitching they are accustomed to against No. 2 seed Kansas.

The Jayhawks (43-23) ripped 16 hits off four UH pitchers, with four of those hits easily clearing the left-field fence at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

"Kansas played an outstanding game," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso after the Jayhawks rallied from a 5-0 deficit.

"Obviously we are disappointed with the effort on the mound. We did not make very good pitches when it was necessary."

No. 1 seed Oregon State broke a 3-3 deadlock with two runs in the eighth to defeat No. 4 Wright State in yesterday's second game.

The Rainbows (43-16) play Wright State (32-26) in an elimination game today at 10 a.m. Hawaii time.

Neither Trapasso nor any of the Rainbows used not having No. 1 starter Steven Wright available to pitch yesterday's game as an excuse.

Wright, who arrived here with a sore throat, was examined by two doctors yesterday and diagnosed with flu-like symptoms. He did not even get out of bed yesterday.

"It looks like we won't have Steven for the weekend, but we have enough pitching to get through the weekend," Trapasso said.

Justin Costi, No. 2 in the Rainbow rotation, took Wright's place and managed to get through 3 1/3 innings before succumbing to the Kansas hit parade.

UH took a 5-0 lead by scoring in the first three innings, but also stranded six runners as KU starter Kodiak Quick was able to limit the damage each time.

Robbie Wilder was hit by the second pitch of the game from Quick. Justin Frash walked and Luis Avila singled to left to load the bases with one out. The 'Bows settled for one run when Wilder scored on Matt Inouye's walk.

Quick then induced Esteban Lopez to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Hawaii took a 2-0 lead in the second. Eli Christensen walked to start the inning, but was forced at second on Kris Sanchez's fielder's choice grounder. After taking second on a wild pitch, Sanchez scored on Wilder's single to right-center field.

Inouye began the third with a single to right, took second on Lopez's sacrifice bunt and scored when Christensen singled to center.

Sanchez then singled to right, sending Christensen to second. With the runners going, Hee bounced a one-strike pitch to right, scoring Christensen and moving Sanchez to third. Quick's second wild pitch brought Sanchez home for a 5-0 lead.

Jared Schweitzer tripled off the center-field fence with two outs in the first, and John Allman and Erik Morrison singled to start the KU second, but Costi kept the Jayhawks from scoring both times.

The senior right-hander was not as successful in the third, when he hit leadoff batter Ritchie Price and Schweitzer blooped a single to right. With two down, Morrison smashed Costi's first pitch over the left-field fence to reduce the UH lead to 5-3.

When Price singled to left-center and took third on Schweitzer's double off the left-field fence in the fourth inning, Costi's day was done.

"I felt good in the bullpen before the game," said Costi, who was told yesterday morning he might be the starter.

"I left too many pitches up and I wasn't throwing my fastball inside."

Quick, who struggled finding the strike zone for three innings, retired six of seven 'Bows in the fourth and fifth innings. Brendan McNamara took over and did the same in the sixth and seventh. Four innings and four zeros for Hawaii on the scoreboard helped the Jayhawks get back in the game.

"When you get down 5-0 it is like being hit in the mouth," said KU coach Ritch Price. "The key for us was the zeros our staff put up for four innings. Our pitching was fabulous after the start. Quick always seems to be in trouble and we could have been down seven, eight or nine runs if he didn't get out of those jams.

"I reminded our players before we hit in the third inning that the game is played for nine innings."

Matt Daly came in and gave up a sacrifice fly to Gus Milner that scored Price before the inning ended with UH clinging to a 5-4 lead.

The Jayhawks took a 7-5 lead in the sixth on a solo homer by Buck Afenir and a two-run blast by Schweitzer, who hit for the cycle.

Ryne Price connected on a two-out homer in the seventh. KU scored it's ninth run when Matt Baty doubled home pinch runner Nick Faunce three batters later.