'Bows run into trouble
POSTED: Saturday, May 02, 2009
Nick Grunenwald and Kevin Winn hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the ninth inning to break a 5-all tie and Louisiana Tech defeated Hawaii 8-5 last night before a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 2,501.
Grunenwald's double down the right-field line with one out in the ninth gave the Bulldogs their third lead of the game.
Jamey Bradshaw made it stand, striking out Vinnie Catricala with a runner on first to end it. Bradshaw (1-4) allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings of relief to earn the win.
Louisiana Tech (24-18, 9-9 Western Athletic Conference) moved to within 1 1/2 games of Nevada for the league lead while the Rainbows (26-18, 9-8) dropped a full game back with their third straight loss.
“;I credit them. They're playing well and we're not,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;We've just got to make better pitches.”;
Sam Spangler (5-1) took the loss in relief of starter Matt Sisto, who allowed five runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Winn finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs to lead Louisiana Tech. Ryan Morford went 4-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored and Kolten Wong had two hits and drove in a run for Hawaii.
Wong got UH going with an RBI double in the fourth to score Morford, who led off the inning with a base hit. Kevin Macdonald, who was hit by a pitch, scored one batter later on a groundout by Landon Hernandez to give the 'Bows their first lead of the series.
Kyle Roliard ended a string of 11 consecutive outs recorded by UH starter Matt Sisto with a single to left with one out in the fifth and Patrick Thomas blasted a two-out double off the wall in right to score Roliard to tie the game at 2.
Hawaii answered with its second consecutive two-spot, as Greg Garcia tripled and Morford doubled to start the bottom of the fifth. Vinnie Catricala followed with a single and Macdonald just missed a three-run homer, flying out to the warning track in center to score Morford on the sacrifice fly.
The lead continued to swing back and forth between the two teams as the Bulldogs went up 5-4 with three runs in the sixth. Alex Williams hit a two-run single with one out and Sisto's day ended after walking Mark Threlkeld to put men on first and second.
Sam Spangler came in and struck out Clint Ewing before walking Matt Combs to load the bases. Spangler put Thomas in a quick 1-2 hole, but a wild pitch scored Williams to give the Bulldogs the lead.
“;The three-run sixth is what killed us having to go to Sam that early,”; Trapasso said. “;Going to him in the sixth was a gamble and it didn't work.”;
Wild pitches came back to haunt the Spartans, as Hawaii tied the game at 5 in the very same manner. A one-out double by Morford put the tying runner in scoring position in the seventh. After Morford moved to the third on a groundout, Bradshaw walked Macdonald on a 3-2 pitch that scooted beneath the catcher to the backstop allowing Morford to score.
Junior Nate Klein (1-2, 3.63 ERA) will take the hill for the 'Bows as Hawaii tries to snap a three-game losing streak today at 6:35 p.m.
“;We need Nate Klein to come out and not try to do too much,”; Trapasso said. “;Just be himself.”;
WAC Standings
| Conference | Overall | ||||
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W-L | |
| Nevada | 7 | 4 | .636 | — | 22-20 |
| San Jose State | 7 | 5 | .583 | 1/2 | 31-14 |
| New Mexico State | 9 | 7 | .563 | 1/2 | 35-10 |
| Hawaii | 9 | 8 | .529 | 1 | 26-18 |
| Louisiana Tech | 9 | 9 | .500 | 1 1/2 | 24-18 |
| Sacramento State | 4 | 8 | .333 | 3 1/2 | 23-120 |
| Fresno State | 4 | 8 | .333 | 3 1/2 | 20-23 |
Yesterday
Louisiana Tech 8, Hawaii 5
San Jose State at Sacramento State, PPD, rain
Nevada at Fresno State, PPD, rain
New Mexico State 12, Houston Baptist 11, 13 inn.
Today
Louisiana Tech at Hawaii, 6:35 p.m.
San Jose State at Sacramento State (2)
Nevada at Fresno State (2)
Houston Baptist at New Mexico State (2)
Lousiana Tech 8, Hawaii 5
| La Tech | AB | R | H | BI | Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | |
| Thomas lf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Garcis ss | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Grunenwald cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Morford 2b | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | |
| Winn 2b | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Catricala 3b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Dageford rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Kersten ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Wong cf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Williams 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Hernandez c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Mire ph/1b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Montplaisir lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Threlkeld 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Van Doornum dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Stefan dh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Roquemore rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Roliard ph/dh | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Hoey ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ewing ph/dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Combs c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Stubbs pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 37 | 8 | 12 | 6 | Totals | 31 | 5 | 9 | 4 |
| La Tech | 100 | 013 | 003 | — | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 000 | 220 | 100 | — | 5 | 9 | 1 |
E—Macdonald. DP—La Tech 2. LOB—La Tech 8; Hawaii 7. 2B—Thomas; Grunenwald; Winn; Dageford; Morford 2; Wong. 3b—Garcia. SH—Thomas; Gruenenwald; Morford. SF—Macdonald. SB—Dageford; Kersten; Catricala. CS—Montplaisir.
| La Tech | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Moseley | 4 2/3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Bradshaw (W,1-4) | 4 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sisto | 5 1/3 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| Spangler (L, 5-1) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Kuroda | 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
WP—Bradshaw; Sisto; Spangler 2; Kuroda. HBP—by Moseley (Macdonald); by Moselefy (Van Doornum)
Umpires—Ken Eldridge (Plate); John Bullock (First); Kenneth Durham(Third).
T—2:49. A—2,501.
