Nevada cuts Hawaii’s day short

Nevada's regular-season baseball mastery of Hawaii at the Wolf Pack's home field continued in the Western Athletic Conference tournament last night.

Nevada    Hawaii 11 1 Next Up vs. Sacramento State today Hawaii vs. Sacramento St. When: Today, 8 a.m. Hawaii time TV: None Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM

Ryan Rodriguez limited the Rainbows to six singles and no other baserunners, and the Nevada lineup supported him with three homers and three doubles in an 11-1 rout of UH at Peccole Park in Reno, Nev. The game was called after seven innings due to the tournament's 10-run rule.

Nevada also swept three games against the Rainbows in Reno two weeks ago.

Hawaii moved on to a game this morning against Sacramento State.

It's a must-win for UH if it wants to continue playing in the double-elimination tournament.

Rainbows starter Ian Harrington lasted just two innings yesterday. He allowed Nevada's first homer, a three-run shot by Jason Sadoian that turned out to be the game-winning hit.

Kris Sanchez and Brandon Haislet had two hits apiece for Hawaii.

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RENO, Nev. » The 10-run rule murmurs started in the sixth inning at Peccole Park last night, as the only drama remaining in the Hawaii-Nevada game centered on if it would go seven or eight innings instead of nine.

That would be a good thing for the Wolf Pack, because ace pitcher Ryan Rodriguez's pitch count would stay low, and the senior right-hander could come back and throw later in the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

It would also be a plus for the Rainbows, because UH's chances to mount a successful comeback against Rodriguez and the hot-hitting Pack were only slightly better than collecting a Megabucks jackpot at one of the Reno casinos. Better to head back to the hotel in neighboring Sparks early and get some rest for this morning's survival game against Sacramento State.

That's what it's come to for the Rainbows. Two months ago they looked like Nevada's equal, if not better, after taking two out of three from the Pack at Les Murakami Stadium. Now UH has lost four in a row on Nevada's home turf, and, yes, the preseason co-favorites to win the WAC did get mercy-ruled, 11-1 in seven innings.

The Wolf Pack belted three homers and three doubles among 10 hits, while Rodriguez allowed just six UH hits, all singles. The Rainbows also made two errors leading to four unearned runs.

The beating was so thorough that coach Mike Trapasso -- normally very accommodating with media -- did not bring requested players to the postgame interview room, and asked that reporters not contact them last night.

What could they say anyway? This was one of the worst defeats the 33-24 Rainbows absorbed all season, including their one-sided losses against ranked teams Wichita State and Arizona State.

As has happened often this year, UH scored first but could not hold on.

Brandon Haislet and Kris Sanchez both singled in the second. Haislet broke for second and Sanchez scored from third on a successful double steal and UH led 1-0.

Nevada came back with four runs in the bottom half, including three on Jason Sadoian's three-run homer off Rainbows starter and losing pitcher Ian Harrington (7-8). Terry Walsh scored earlier in the inning after he reached on third baseman Justin Frash's throwing error.

"Our plan was to attack (Harrington's) fastball when we get it," Sadoian said. "But don't go after anything low in the zone. He's very good there."

But Harrington did not have good stuff, and left after Shaun Kort rifled a single back through the middle that Harrington had to dodge to avoid bodily harm starting the third.

"He had no command, no command on any of his pitches," Trapasso said.

Matt Daly settled things down briefly, but he gave up two walks that led to another run in the fourth and Trapasso went to Jeff Soskin to start the fifth. Matt Suleski, Owen Mackedon and David Ciarlo -- the last three batters in the Nevada order -- banged three doubles in a row as the Pack scored four more runs in the fifth.

That wasn't the worst of it for Soskin, as the senior lefty then served up back-to-back homers to Jason Rodriguez and Kort to start the sixth. The Rainbows went 1-2-3 in the seventh, and it was over.

"Soskin's pitched really well for us the last three or four weeks. That blew up in my face today," Trapasso said.

As Nevada's lead increased, Ryan Rodriguez got into a groove.

"Being ahead you just throw a lot of strikes," said Rodriguez, who struck out seven and walked none.