Hawaii win sets up battle of top seeds

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RUSTON, La. » Jeff Van Doornum hit two home runs and finished with five RBIs as Hawaii defeated Nevada 14-5 yesterday to remain undefeated in the Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament at J.C Love Field.

Hawaii    Nevada 14 5 NEXT UP vs. Fresno State today

Brandon Haislet finished 4-for-6 with three RBIs, and Jon Hee and Landon Hernandez each had three hits.

Josh Schneider allowed all five runs on 12 hits in 7 1/3 innings to pick up the win. Cory Kahn pitched 1 2/3 hitless innings in relief.

The second-seeded Rainbows will take on No. 1 seed Fresno State today at 6 a.m. If Hawaii wins, it would have two chances to win the WAC tournament tomorrow.

A Rainbows loss would force the team to play an elimination game at 2 p.m. today.

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RUSTON, La. » The best way to ease pitching concerns is to light up the scoreboard with crooked numbers.

So far, the Rainbows baseball team has done exactly that.

Hawaii scored at least two runs in each of the first four innings and pounded out 22 hits to rout Nevada 14-5 yesterday and advance in the winner's bracket of the Western Athletic Conference tournament at J.C. Love Field.

"I don't think you can say enough about the offense today," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "For us to put up a crooked number in the first four innings, it allows the pitcher to relax and frankly, it lets everybody play more relaxed."

The Rainbows will face top-seeded Fresno State at 6 a.m. Hawaii time in a battle between the last two undefeated teams in the tournament.

Jeff Van Doornum blasted a three-run homer in the first inning and added a solo shot in the fourth for his first multi-home-run game this season.

Brandon Haislet added a two-run dinger of his own and finished 4-for-6 with three RBIs. Hawaii has scored at least 11 runs in its first two tournament games.

"That's what it's going to take," Trapasso said. "With the way we're so thin pitching-wise with the injuries and playing in a tournament where you start getting four or five games into it, we're going to need that effort every game."

The tournament champion won't be decided until tomorrow, but the winner of this morning's game between Fresno State and Hawaii will have a huge advantage.

A victory for the 'Bows would mean they would have two chances at winning one game tomorrow to win the title and earn the automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

A loss would force Hawaii to have to beat the winner between Nevada and San Jose State later today at 2 p.m., and then it would have to beat the Bulldogs twice tomorrow to be crowned champion.

"Obviously it's huge and you're in way better shape wining tomorrow than if you lose," Trapasso said.

Hawaii's pitching rotation, which was a mess entering the tournament, has stood up well so far. Nick Rhodes gave the 'Bows seven strong innings on Thursday and Josh Schneider lasted 7 1/3 innings last night, allowing 12 hits and five runs to earn the victory.

The number of hits allowed is a little high, but allowing only two walks was key, according to Trapasso.

"That's outstanding for this ballpark," Trapasso said. "For him to go deep, he just threw strikes. He's a senior and a mature kid who understands with a big lead it's about just going out there and throwing strikes."

Cory Kahn finished the game with 1 2/3 hitless innings in relief.

Junior Matt Daly, who pitched 1 1/3 innings on Thursday, will start today's game against FSU. Hawaii split the season series two games apiece against the Bulldogs.