Late-inning heroics help No. 20 Hawaii earn a doubleheader split
POSTED: Sunday, April 26, 2009
Greg Garcia singled home Jeff Van Doornum for the eventual game-winning run as No. 20 Hawaii barely avoided a sweep against New Mexico State yesterday, taking the second game 8-7 in 10 innings at Presley Askew Field in Las Cruces, N.M.
The Aggies put the 10-run mercy rule into effect in the first game, winning 16-6 in eight innings. Hawaii (26-15, 9-5 Western Athletic Conference) remains a half-game up on Nevada, with the Aggies (33-10, 8-7) a game behind the Wolf Pack.
“;That was the biggest win of the season for us by far,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;To ensure at least a split for us in this ballpark against this team is huge.”;
Kevin Macdonald became just the second Rainbow under Trapasso to hit at least 10 home runs in a season with a grand slam in the first game. But his big hit of the day came with Hawaii trailing 7-5 in the nightcap and two outs in the ninth inning.
With Sean Montplaisir on second after a one-out double, Macdonald drilled his team-leading 11th home run of the season to send the game into extra innings.
“;The timing couldn't have been any better,”; Trapasso said. “;He's carrying us.”;
The Rainbows went ahead on Garcia's single in the top of the 10th and Jared Alexander, who was originally scheduled to start today's series finale, worked his way out of a jam in the bottom of the inning to earn the win.
“;It was all or nothing,”; Trapasso said. “;We knew that he was scheduled to be tomorrow's starter, but to win that game and ensure that split, we had to roll the dice.
“;If we win it was a good move and if we lose it and we've lost our starter for game four then it's crazy.”;
Kolten Wong had hits in both games to extend his streak to 15 games, while Macdonald has blasted seven home runs in his last eight games.
Trapasso hadn't decided on a starter for today's game at 9:05 a.m. Alexander and reliever Sam Spangler are available for “;an inning or two”; and sophomore Alex Capaul and freshman Jesse Moore should also be in the mix to pitch.
WAC Standings
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W-L |
||
| Hawaii | 9 | 5 | .643 | — | 26-15 | |
| Nevada | 7 | 4 | .636 | 1/2 | 20-20 | |
| San Jose State | 6 | 5 | .545 | 1 1/2 | 28-14 | |
| New Mexico State | 8 | 7 | .533 | 1 1/2 | 33-10 | |
| Sacramento State | 4 | 6 | .400 | 3 | 23-17 | |
| Fresno State | 4 | 7 | .364 | 3 1/2 | 20-21 | |
| Louisiana Tech | 5 | 9 | .357 | 4 | 20-18 |
Yesterday
New Mexico State 16, Hawaii 6
Hawaii 8, New Mexico State 7
Fresno State 8, San Jose State 2
San Jose State 2, Fresno State 0
Sacramento State 8, Louisiana Tech 6
Nevada 9, Cal State Bakersfield 4
Today
Hawaii at New Mexico State, 9:05 a.m.
Fresno State at San Jose State
Louisiana Tech at Sacramento State
Cal State Bakersfield at Nevada
Tomorrow
Louisiana Tech at Sacramento State
NMSU 16, Hawaii 6
| Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | NMSU | AB | R | H | BI |
| Garcia ss | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Farnham c | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Montplaisir lf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Shaver rf | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Catricala 3b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Sodders dh | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Macdonald 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | Anderson pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Wong cf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Marquez ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Hernandez c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Aguirre lf | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Johnson rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Harty 1b | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Van Doornum dh | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Reynoso 3b | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Morford 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Perkins cf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Decater cf | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Lucero 2b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Totals | 34 | 6 | 11 | 6 | Totals | 41 | 16 | 18 | 15 |
| Hawaii | 000 | 000 | 51 | — | 6 | 11 | 1 |
|
| NMSU | 021 | 401 | 08 | — | 16 | 18 | 0 |
E—Catricala. DP—NMSU 1. LOB—Hawaii 7; MNSU 7. 2B—Wong; Aguirre; Perkins. HR—Macdonald; Van Doornum; Farnham 2; Shaver 2; Marquez; Harty; Reynoso. HBP—Lucero. CS—Lucero.
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|
| Sisto (L, 4-4) | 5 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | |
| Kuroda | 2 2/3 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | |
| NMSU | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|
| Jordan (W, 6-1) | 6 1/3 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | |
| Coffman | 2/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wilson | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Umpires—Patrick Riley (Plate); Dave Natalie (First); Jason Venzon (Third).
T—2:30.
Hawaii 8, NMSU 7
| Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | NMSU | AB | R | H | BI |
| Garcia ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Farnham c | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Montplaisir lf | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | Shaver rf | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Catricala 3b | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Marquez ss | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Macdonald 1b | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Aguirre dh | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Wong cf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Jordan 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Hernandez c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Anderson pr | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnson rf | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Howard c | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Van Doornum dh | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Reynoso 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Morford 2b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Schneider 2b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Decater cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Harty ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Lucero cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Sodders ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Taylor 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Totals | 42 | 8 | 13 | 8 | Totals | 43 | 7 | 15 | 7 |
| Hawaii | 110 | 200 | 102 1 | — | 8 | 13 | 0 |
|
| NMSU | 000 | 000 | 070 0 | — | 7 | 15 | 0 |
DP—Hawaii 1. LOB—Hawaii 11; MNSU 12. 2B—Montplaisir; Wong; Howard; Reynoso. HR—Catricala; Macdonald; Morford. HBP—Hernandez; Lucero. SH—Morford. SB—Garcia; Farnham.
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|
| Klein | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
| Little | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| Slaats | 2/3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| Alexander (W, 2-1) | 21/3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| NMSU | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|
| Simon | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | |
| Cooper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Nyquist | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wilson (L, 2-2) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Umpires—Dave Natalie (Plate); Jason Venzon (First); Patrick Riley (Third).
T—3:15.
