'Bows salvage a WAC split
POSTED: Sunday, April 19, 2009
It was just the sort of pitching performance the University of Hawaii baseball team needed, as Rainbows starter Matt Sisto allowed two runs on eight hits—all singles—and struck out seven en route to his second complete game of the season.
Unfortunately for the freshman, the Rainbows' offensive attack did not come through when it counted, stranding five runners in scoring position—including the tying run on second base in the ninth inning—and allowing Sacramento State to hold on for the 2-1 victory in the first game of a Western Athletic Conference doubleheader this afternoon before a crowd of 2,918 at Les Murakami Stadium.
Hawaii rebounded to win the second game of the twin bill, 7-2, and the Rainbows are in line to win the four-game set after notching a 5-4 victory in Friday's opener. The squads return to Murakami Stadium today at 1:05 p.m. for the finale.
The Hornets (21-16, 2-5 WAC) received an equally impressive performance from their freshman counterpart on the hill in victorious starter Jesse Darrah (7-2, 5.24 ERA). The right-hander allowed a lone run—a solo homer from Hawaii first baseman Kevin Macdonald—on five hits and struck out two through 7 2/3 innings.
Down a run in their final at-bat, the Rainbows (23-13, 6-4) turned to reigning WAC hitter of the week Kolten Wong, who singled to center to lead off the frame. The freshman from Kamehameha-Hawaii advanced to second on a Landon Hernandez sacrifice bunt, but was stranded in scoring position. Sacramento State closer Jeff Roth struck out pinch hitter Christian Johnson and induced Matt Roquemore to ground out to shortstop, preserving the victory en route to his fourth save.
“;The first game was disappointing because we didn't hit,”; said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso. “;We got a great pitching performance out of Sisto, and it was all for naught. You wait for that magic because you've had it a few times, and you get burned. It's disappointing that we didn't give a better effort.”;
Sisto fell to 4-3 for the season, his ERA dropping to 3.50 in his second complete-game defeat of the year.
“;He's been good for us all year, and the disappointing thing is that he takes the loss where he deserved a better fate,”; said Trapasso of his young hurler. “;But you've got to give them credit—they got us out. I didn't like our approach. All we did was hit fly balls; everybody wanted to hit a home run.”;
Roth and Hunter Martinez chipped in two-out, run-scoring singles in the fourth and fifth innings to put the Hornets ahead for good. Sacramento State first baseman Blake Crosby led the way with a game-high three hits in the win.
In the nightcap, Catricala led the Rainbows' offensive attack with three hits and three runs driven in, including a two-run homer to left-center field in the first inning. Johnson drove in two runs, while Wong doubled, singled in a run and walked twice.
“;We jumped out early and got two runs right off the bat, and we knew we had to get at least one of those games in a doubleheader,”; Catricala said. “;It's hard sweeping, so (winning today) and coming out 3-1, that's huge. We'll be happy going on the road with a two-game win streak.”;
Hawaii starter Nate Klein improved to 1-2 for the season, surrendering a run on four hits and striking out five through five innings.
Trapasso is still deciding whether to start Jared Alexander (0-1, 8.31 ERA) or Connor Little (2-0, 6.65 ERA) today, while Tommy Elrod (4-1, 4.24 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Hornets.
WAC Standings
| Conference | Overall | |||||
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W | L | |
| New Mexico State | 7 | 4 | .636 | — | 32 | 7 |
| Hawaii | 6 | 4 | .600 | 1/2 | 23 | 13 |
| Nevada | 6 | 4 | .600 | 1/2 | 17 | 19 |
| San Jose State | 5 | 3 | .625 | 1 1/2 | 25 | 11 |
| Fresno State | 2 | 4 | .333 | 2 1/2 | 18 | 18 |
| Sacramento State | 2 | 5 | .285 | 3 | 21 | 16 |
| Louisiana Tech | 3 | 7 | .300 | 3 1/2 | 16 | 16 |
Yesterday
Sacramento State 2, Hawaii 1
Hawaii 7, Sacramento State 2
Louisiana Tech 11, Fresno State 9
Louisiana Tech 17, Fresno State 5
New Mexico State 5, Nevada 3
San Jose State 5, UC Santa Barbara 2
Today
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
Game 1
Sacramento St. 2, Hawaii 1
| Sac. St. | AB | R | H | BI | Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | ||
| Martinez 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Garcia ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Chung ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Montplaisir lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Wheeler cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Catricala 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Crosby 1b | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Roth rf/p | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Wong cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Powers 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hernandez c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Crouch lf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Van Doornum dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Lamb c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnson ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Hottman c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Roquemore rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Morford 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Totals | 33 | 2 | 8 | 2 | Totals | 31 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Sac. St. | 000 | 110 | 000 | — | 2 | 8 | 0 | |
| Hawaii | 010 | 000 | 030 | — | 1 | 7 | 0 |
DP—Sacramento State 1. LOB—Sacramento State 5, Hawaii 7. 2B—Macdonald. HR—Macdonald. SH—Lamb; Hernandez. CS—Crosby.
| Sacramento St. | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Darrah (W, 7-2) | 7 2/3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Roth | 1 1/3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sisto (L, 4-3) | 9 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
Umpires—Greg Charles (Plate); Ted Kovach (First); Tony Norris (Third).
T—2:18. A—N/A.
Game 2
Hawaii 7, Sacramento St. 2
| Sac. St. | AB | R | H | BI | Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI |
| Martinez 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Garcia ss | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Chung ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hoey 2b | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Wheeler cf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Crosby 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Wong cf | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Roth rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Johnson dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Powers 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Roquemore rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hottman c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Montplaisir lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lamb c | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Fujii c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Espana dh | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Catricala 3b | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Otsuka lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Crouch ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Totals | 25 | 2 | 7 | 1 | Totals | 28 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Sac. St. | 010 | 001 | 0 | — | 2 | 7 | 1 | |
| Hawaii | 202 | 102 | x | — | 7 | 7 | 0 |
E—Sandoval. DP—Hawaii 1. LOB—Sacramento St 5; Hawaii 9. 2B—Crosby; Roth; Espana; Crouch; Wong. HR—Catricala. SH—Otsuka; Garcia; CS—Powers.
| Sacramento St. | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sandoval (L, 4-4) | 5 1/3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| Felice | 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Klein (W, 1-2) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Moore | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Umpires—Ted Kovach (Plate); Tony Norris (First); Greg Charles (Third).
T—2:08. A—2,918.
