San Jose silences Hawaii again

Hawaii had the right answer for San Jose State's double steal, but didn't execute.

And Rainbows coach Mike Trapasso said he has no answers for his team's batting slump.

San Jose St.    Hawaii 2 1 Next Up vs. San Jose State, today

Toss in Spartans coach Sam Piraro's successful unorthodox early pitching change and some good defense, and it added up to a 2-1 victory for San Jose State over Hawaii last night as 2,286 watched at Les Murakami Stadium.

UH fell to 21-11 and 2-3 in the Western Athletic Conference. San Jose State improved to 18-11 and 3-2.

"We're not hitting, plain and simple," said Trapasso, after the Rainbows managed just six hits and a run for a second night in a row. "We're just not getting hits. If we knew what it was, we would be doing it."

The frustration spilled over onto defense in the sixth, when UH had Donato Giovanatto dead to rights at home on an attempted double steal. But second baseman Jon Hee's throw was off the mark and bounced in the dirt, and catcher Landon Hernandez couldn't come up with the ball.

"They defensed it perfectly from a coaching standpoint," Piraro said. "The catcher did a fine job of freezing our runner (Giovanatto). Fortunately for us, the throw back to home was erratic."

Giovanatto reached when he was hit by a pitch from UH starter and loser Mark Rodrigues (6-2). Karson Klauer had led off the sixth with a single, and eventually scored on Brian Chase's single that moved Giovanatto to third. Chase broke for second on the decisive double steal, and was safe when Hee cut the ball off in front of second and made the return throw home.

The Rainbows managed four singles in the last eight innings against Spartans relievers Brandon Hennessey and Loren Moneypenny.

Hennessey (2-0) got the win with five innings of two-hit ball and Moneypenny got his first save, allowing two hits in three innings.

"I wasn't trying to throw my fastball too hard, just trying to get groundballs," Moneypenny said. "My curve was working, too. In this park we don't feel like we have to strike everybody out. We let our defense work."

Still, Hennessey and Moneypenny combined for eight strikeouts.

Piraro pulled starter Spencer Snodgrass after he allowed UH a 1-0 lead in the first on Justin Frash's two-out double and Brandon Haislet's single and then walked Evan Zimny to start the second.

"He wasn't hurt. I just wasn't confident with the matchup. I didn't want to get behind three or four runs against a very good pitcher like Rodrigues," Piraro said. "I didn't think Spencer had command of the pitches he would need. That's what I'm paid to do, make moves."

San Jose State was aided by several good defensive plays, including a diving catch in left by Chris Balatico of a drive off the bat of Kris Sanchez. If he didn't catch it, it would've gone for extra bases and likely scored Haislet.

Rodrigues retired nine in a row from the end of the second into the fifth. He was relieved by Matt Daly after giving up Chase's game-tying single in the sixth.

Rodrigues allowed six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and hit the one batter while striking out three.

"I kind of had the flu, but just tried to do what I've been doing the past couple outings," said Rodrigues, who hadn't lost since Feb. 25 against Wichita State. "We just have to come out tomorrow and be Sunday tough. We can't let a team come to our house and take three from us."