Rainbows wins first series on the road

Schneider gets his first Hawaii win as UH beats UCSB in the rubber game

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. » Hawaii used strong pitching, a lot of small ball and a little bit of long ball to beat UC Santa Barbara 9-2 yesterday, giving the Rainbows their seventh win in their last eight games.

Hawaii    UCSB 9 2 Next Up vs. Wichita St. on Friday

Hospitality by the Gauchos in the form of 10 walks helped the Rainbows, too.

"It was a good day all around," said UH coach Mike Trapasso, as the Rainbows bused from Caeser Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara toward LAX after winning two of three in their first road series of the season.

UH (9-3) won its fourth of four series this season. The Gauchos fell to 2-3.

Right-hander Josh Schneider (1-0) allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings for his first Hawaii career win. He struck out one and walked one, and was aided by three double plays. Tyler Davis struck out three in two scoreless innings of relief.

"Schneider really settled down after the first couple of innings," Trapasso said. "He gave us a real quality start."

Schneider has allowed just one earned run in 18 innings. His performance yesterday followed a three-hitter by Mark Rodrigues in the Rainbows' 3-1 victory over UCSB on Saturday.

Schneider said his fastball and curve were effective, but he relied on an improved changeup often as his out pitch.

"My changeup was 100 percent better today. Usually you rely on your fastball, but my changeup really showed up today and got me out of some dire straits," Schneider said. "Coach Konishi (pitching coach Chad) showed me a new grip before the Georgia Southern series and it's been improving every week."

Jon Hee drove in three runs, bunt singles by Jorge Franco and Brandon Haislet stoked two rallies, and Kris Sanchez hit his fourth homer of the season. The 10 walks, two passed balls, a wild pitch and a hit batsman also contributed to UCSB's demise.

Each team had eight hits.

Sanchez's two-run homer in the ninth maintained his streak of a hit in every game this season and 16 in a row going back to last year.

"I hit a fastball running away and up," Sanchez said of the homer, which he hit to left-center with Haislet aboard.

The Rainbows took the lead for good in the fifth with a run off reliever Brian Tracy. Hee started the inning with a walk, and singles by Justin Frash and Haislet loaded the bases. Sanchez grounded into a double play, but Hee scored from third and UH led 3-2.

UH scored four in the sixth, with Hee's bases-loaded single driving in Evan Zimny and Derek DuPree. Haislet contributed a sacrifice fly, and Jorge Franco walked and scored on a wild pitch.

The Gauchos went up 2-0 in the second on Rainbows third baseman Frash's first error of the season and an RBI single by Chris Fox.

UCSB freshman starter Mike Ford struck out five batters in the first two innings, but lost his control in the third when the Rainbows tied it with two runs.

Landon Hernandez and DuPree started the inning with walks, and Franco bunted safely to load the bases. Hernandez scored on Ford's wild pitch, and DuPree on a fly ball by Hee.

"We had more runs than hits, so we got some hits in the right spots," Sanchez said. "And our pitching got us some ground balls when we needed them."

The Rainbows return home for a long homestand, starting with games against 11th-ranked Wichita State on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.