StarBulletin.com

'Bows eke out win


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POSTED: Saturday, April 18, 2009

Two long balls provided Jayson Kramer all the run support he needed—barely.

Kevin Macdonald and Kolten Wong hit home runs and Kramer allowed two runs over eight innings as the Rainbows held on to defeat Sacramento State 5-4 in the opener of a four-game Western Athletic Conference series last night at Les Murakami Stadium.

A crowd of 2,625 saw the Hornets pull within a run on a two-run homer by Brent Hoffman in the ninth inning off reliever Sam Spangler. But the sophomore left-hander came back to strike out two and got Derrick Chung to line out to center to earn his third save.

Hawaii (22-12, 5-3) pulled within a half-game of Nevada for the league lead, while the Hornets (20-15, 1-4) lost for the fifth time in their last eight games.

“;Jumping on them early was big, but I was really disappointed that we seemed to go into cruise control after going up 5-1,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;Kramer was really solid. I could have sent him out there in the ninth inning, but he was at 91 pitches and we had a three-run lead.”;

Kramer evened his record at 3-3, pitching into the eighth inning for the fourth time this season. The Hornets loaded the bases in the top of the eighth trailing 5-1 and had the meat of their lineup at the plate.

After a quick trip to the mound by Trapasso, Kramer got Tim Wheeler to ground into a fielder's choice and struck out Blake Crosby on three pitches for the second out. Jeff Roth hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to three, but Kramer got Josh Powers to ground out on his 91st pitch to end the inning.

“;Coach came up and blew some smoke up me,”; Kramer said. “;It really, really woke me up and he pretty much said you've got to trust me.”;

Both hits that helped load the bases came on pitches where Kramer shook off what was called and chose to instead use his changeup.

“;Twice he shook his sinker off to go to change when we're looking for ground balls and double plays,”; Trapasso said. “;Sometimes he falls in love with the changeup too much and yet he was able to manage the inning.”;

Macdonald got things going with a two-run homer in the first inning off of Hornets starter Chris Baek. Baek pitched into the third inning, but didn't record an out as Wong tagged him for a three-run homer and Landon Hernandez and Jeff Van Doornum followed with singles to end Baek's night. He allowed five runs and six hits in two innings and walked three without a strikeout to fall to 3-4 for the season.

Crosby finished 0-for-4 for the Hornets to end his 18-game hitting streak.

The teams return to the field today for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. Freshman Matt Sisto (4-2, 3.80) will start the first game, while Nate Klein (0-2, 4.71 ERA) takes the hill in the nightcap.

WAC Standings

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
     ConferenceOverall
       
 WLPct.GBWL
       
Nevada63.6671718
San Jose State53.6251/22411
New Mexico State64.6001/2317
Hawaii43.57112112
Fresno State22.5001 1/21816
Sacramento State13.2502 1/22014
Louisiana Tech17.1254 1/21416

Yesterday
Hawaii 5, Sacramento State 4
Fresno State at Louisiana Tech, PPD., rain
New Mexico State 9, Nevada 6
UC Santa Barbara 7, San Jose State 6

Today
Sacramento State at Hawaii (2), 3 p.m., Les Murakami Stadium
Fresno State at Louisiana Tech (2)
New Mexico State at Nevada
San Jose State at UC Santa Barbara

Tomorrow
Sacramento State at Hawaii, 1:05 p.m., Les Murakami Stadium
Fresno State at Louisiana Tech (2)
New Mexico State at Nevada
San Jose State at UC Santa Barbara

Hawaii 5, Sacramento St. 4

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Sac. St.ABRHBIHawaiiABRHBI
       
Martinez 2b5131Garcia ss3010
Chung ss5010Montplaisir lf4000
Wheeler cf3010Catricala 3b4220 
Crosby 1b4000Macdonald 1b3212
Roth rf4011Wong cf4113
Powers 3b4000Hernandez c4020
Crouch2110Van Doornum dh3010
Espana ph1110Roquemore rf3010
Lamb dh4000Morford 2b3000
Hottman c3112
Totals35494Totals31595

                                                                                                                                                                           
Sac St. 001000012491
       
Hawaii  20300000x590
       

E—Martinez. DP—Sacramento 3; Hawaii 1. LOB—Sacramento 7, Hawaii 8. 2B—Wheeler; Roquemore. HR—Hottman; Macdonald; Wong. HBP—Hottman; Garcia; Roquemore. SB—Wheeler; Hernandez.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Sacramento St.IPHRERBBSO
       
Baek (L, 3-4)265530
Taku420012
Harrison210002 
HawaiiIPHRERBBSO
       
Kramer (W, 3-3)872227
Spangler122202

Umpires—Tony Norris(Plate); Greg Charles (First); Ted Kovach(Third).

T—2:48. A—N/A.