RAINBOW BASEBALL
UH’s Daly dominates Nevada
STORY SUMMARY » |
READ THE FULL STORY
Matt Daly and two relievers combined on a three-hit shutout as Hawaii blanked Nevada 4-0 yesterday in the series finale at Les Murakami Stadium.
NEXT UP
at Louisiana Tech on Friday
|
Daly, who's had a disappointing junior season, found something in his mechanics during a bullpen session on Saturday and used it to dominate the WAC's top-hitting club.
"I've been working real hard week to week trying to figure something out," Daly said. "I found something yesterday and stuck with it and was able to throw strikes all day."
Daly wasn't aware he was starting until batting practice roughly 30 minutes before the game.
When he was done, he had baffled the Wolf Pack over 7 2/3 innings, allowing only two hits while striking out seven.
Jon Hee's two-run single in the seventh doubled the Rainbows' lead and helped seal their third straight series win.
The Rainbows hit the road for a four-game series beginning Friday against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs are tied with the Wolf Pack for third place in the WAC. Fresno State, which is 13-1 in league play since losing its first two games of the WAC season at Hawaii, leads the 'Bows by four games.
BILLY HULL
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Brandon Haislet was tagged out by Nevada second baseman David Ciarlo while trying to steal second.
|
|
FULL STORY »
The Hawaii baseball team has accomplished in less than three weeks of April what it couldn't in the first month and a half of the season: winning 10 games.
Matt Daly pitched 7 2/3 innings of two-hit ball and Jon Hee went 3-for-4 with two RBIs as the Rainbows knocked off Nevada 4-0 yesterday in front of a crowd of 1,349 at Les Murakami Stadium.
Hawaii is 10-3 since the midway point of the season after going 9-19 to start the year. Yesterday's victory gave the Rainbows their third straight series win and moved them into a third-place tie with the Wolf Pack (19-22, 11-9).
"We've been playing well," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "Now we've got to go to a tough place against a team that has their backs against the wall. They're going to come out swinging because they've got no choice."
The Rainbows make their next-to-last road trip of the regular season next weekend with a four-game set at Louisiana Tech.
Pitching has been the story for Hawaii during its recent hot streak as the Rainbows have dropped their ERA by more than a run during WAC play.
It continued all weekend, as Nevada was the conference's best-hitting team entering this series, but was held to 11 runs in four games and hit .207.
Daly continued the trend of strong pitching performances with Hawaii's best of the weekend. He retired the first 11 batters he faced and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He struck out seven and walked five and threw 113 pitches (69 strikes).
"For him to come out and pitch like that with all that was at stake today, is the story of the game," Trapasso said. "I'm really happy for him because we've been on him pretty hard this year."
The Rainbows gave Daly a lead to work with by scoring two runs in the fifth. Kevin Macdonald walked and Vinnie Catricala singled to open the inning. After Greg Garcia worked a seven-pitch walk to load the bases, Landon Hernandez scored Macdonald on a sacrifice fly and Sean Montplaisir brought in Catricala on a groundout to put the 'Bows up 2-0.
Daly had it on cruise control until Shaun Kort broke up his no-hit bid with a single to lead off the seventh. Terry Walsh drew a walk -- Daly's fourth of the game -- and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. The flame-throwing Daly then reared back and found an extra gear to strike out Tyson Jaquez and David Ciarlo on seven total pitches to end the inning.
"I really wanted to just battle those guys and if one scores, that's all I wanted," Daly said. "I got ahead of both those hitters real fast, and when I got ahead, it puts them in a tough situation."
After opening the bottom of the inning with a pair of groundouts, the Rainbows put together a two-out rally to double their lead. Hernandez and Derek DuPree sandwiched walks around a Montplaisir single to load the bases for Hee, who grounded a two-run single through the hole on the left side of the infield to make it 4-0.
"That was a big rally," Trapasso said. "They came out with great energy today. That says a lot about them after grinding out three games in two days."
Daly was chased with two outs in the eighth after giving up a single and a walk. Freshman Sam Spangler came on with two outs and struck out Kort on four pitches to preserve the shutout.
Jayson Kramer closed out the ninth by getting pinch hitter Matt Langenfeld to ground into a double play with two runners on.
WAC Standings
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
|
GB |
W-L |
|
Fresno State |
13 |
3 |
.813 |
|
-- |
24-16
|
Sacramento State |
10 |
5 |
.667 |
|
2 1/2 |
19-18
|
Nevada |
9 |
7 |
.563 |
|
4 |
22-17
|
Hawaii |
11 |
9 |
.550 |
|
4 |
19-22
|
San Jose State |
12 |
11 |
.522 |
|
4 1/2 |
21-16
|
New Mexico State |
5 |
11 |
.313 |
|
8 |
18-23
|
Louisiana Tech |
2 |
16 |
.111 |
|
12 |
15-22 |
Yesterday
Hawaii 4, Nevada 0
Sacramento State 8, Hawaii-Hilo 2
Fresno State 24, New Mexico State 6
San Jose State 4, Louisiana Tech 2
Tomorrow
Sacramento State at San Francisco
Santa Clara at Fresno State
New Mexico State at Texas Tech
Hawaii-Hilo at San Jose State
Hawaii 4, Nevada 0
Nevada |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI
|
Sadoian cf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Montplaisir lf |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1
|
Bowman lf |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
DuPree dh |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Rodriguez 3b |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Hee ss |
4 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
Kort 1b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Haislet cf |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Walsh dh |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Van Doornum rf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Hale, rf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Macdonald 1b |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Jaquez c |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Catricala 3b |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0
|
Simas c |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Hernandez c |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1
|
Sing Chow ph |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Garcia 2b |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Rodland ss |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Langenfeld ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
Ciarlo 2b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Totals |
29 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
Totals |
28 |
4 |
7 |
4 |
Nevada 000 000 000 -- 0 3 0
Hawaii 000 020 20x -- 4 7 1
E--Hee. DP--Nevada 1; Hawaii 1. LOB--Nevada 8; Hawaii 8. 2B--Hee. HBP--Haislet; Macdonald. SH--Hale. SF--Hernandez. CS--Haislet.
Nevada |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Achelpohl (L, 1-2) |
6 2/3 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2
|
Kaup |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Bautista |
1 1/3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Daly (W, 5-2) |
7 2/3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
7
|
Spangler |
1/3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Kramer |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
HBP--by Achelpohl (Haislet); by Bautista (Macdonald).
Umpires--Rich Padilla (Plate); Kelly Gonzales (First); Gus Rodriguez (Third).
T--2:41. A--1,349.