'Bows prep for WAC tourney
POSTED: Friday, May 15, 2009
It was evident from the outset that Hawaii had not forgotten about last year's series against Utah Valley.
The Rainbows suffered no letdown to start their final regular-season series, cruising past the Wolverines 7-2 last night to delight a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,019.
Kolten Wong finished 3-for-4 and extended Hawaii's single-season, program home-run record to 61 with his 11th jack of the year as Hawaii (30-22) reached the 30-win mark for the fifth time in Mike Trapasso's eight seasons as head coach.
“;We jumped right out of the gate well, and we continued to swing well,”; Trapasso said. “;We need to keep it up.”;
Unlike last year, when the Wolverines outplayed the 'Bows and took two out of three games to end the season, Hawaii jumped on Utah Valley from the early going.
The Rainbows put two runs on the board in each of the first three innings to take a 6-0 lead. Greg Garcia's two-run double was the key hit in the second and RBI hits by Christian Johnson and Kevin Fujii in the third gave starter Jayson Kramer more than enough run support.
Kramer (5-4), making the 68th appearance and 13th start of his four-year Rainbows career, retired the final eight batters he faced. He allowed two runs (one earned) in eight innings on seven hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
“;I've got to give credit to our offense for going out there and getting six runs early to settle me down,”; Kramer said. “;Last year (Utah Valley) was one of the teams that came in here and knocked us around, so it feels good to come and get this win.”;
The only trouble from the Wolverines came in the fourth when three singles scored a run and Kevin Arendse was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Kramer worked out of the jam by striking out Riley White. Utah Valley had two runners on base in the sixth trailing 6-2, but Kramer punched out Kirk Doxey, who pinch-hit for White, on three pitches.
“;He got some ground balls and pitched ahead in the count, and that's what we were looking for from him,”; Trapasso said.
Jory Jensen (2-5) took the loss for the Wolverines, giving up six runs on nine hits in six innings with three walks and two strikeouts.
Josh Slaats recorded the final three outs for the 'Bows, getting Doxey to ground out to Garcia to end the game.
Garcia recorded his 11th assist on the final out, breaking the single-game record of 10 held by five other players. Garcia also had 10 in a game two weeks ago against Louisiana Tech.
“;He can thank Kramer for that,”; Trapasso said. “;Kramer was getting ground balls all night, and that's what happens when he's throwing the ball well.”;
Fujii, starting in place of injured catcher Landon Hernandez, finished 2-for-3 with an RBI as Hawaii made the most of its 10 hits, leaving only four runners on base.
Freshman Matt Sisto (4-4, 4.80 ERA) will start opposite Utah Valley's Brock Sargent (2-8, 8.13) in the second game of the series today as the Rainbows look for their fourth straight victory.
WAC Standings
| Conference | Overall | ||||
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W-L | |
| San Jose State | 11 | 7 | .611 | — | 35-18 |
| Louisiana Tech | 12 | 10 | .545 | 1 | 27-19 |
| Nevada | 10 | 9 | .526 | 1 1/2 | 25-25 |
| New Mexico State | 11 | 11 | .500 | 2 | 40-14 |
| Hawaii | 11 | 12 | .478 | 2 1/2 | 30-22 |
| Fresno State | 9 | 12 | .429 | 3 1/2 | 25-27 |
| Sacramento State | 8 | 11 | .421 | 3 1/2 | 27-24 |
Yesterday
Louisiana Tech 6, New Mexico State 5
Fresno State 15, Sacramento State 7
New Mexico State 16, Louisiana Tech 0
Hawaii 7, Utah Valley 2
Today
Fresno State at Sacramento State, noon.
Nevada at San Jose State, 3 p.m.
Utah Valley at Hawaii, 6:35 p.m.
New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech, 1 p.m.
Hawaii 7, Utah Valley 2
| Ut. Valley | AB | R | H | BI | Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI |
| Rickenbach ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Morford 2b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Anderson cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Garcia ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Brinkerhoff 3b | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Catricala 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Burgess dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Benson lf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Wong cf | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Kallunki 1b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Montplaisir lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arendse c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnson dh | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| White rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Roquemore rf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Doxey ph/rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fujii c | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Jones 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Totals | 34 | 2 | 7 | 2 | Totals | 31 | 7 | 10 | 6 |
| Utah Valley | 000 | 101 | 000 | — | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| Hawaii | 222 | 000 | 01x | — | 7 | 10 | 1 |
E—Anderson. DP—UVU 2; Hawaii 1. LOB—UVU 6; Hawaii. 4. 2B—Brinkerhoff; Garcia; Catricala; Johnson. HR—Wong. HBP—Arendse; Roquemore. SB—Roquemore. CS—Morford; Macdonald.
| Utah Valley | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Jensen (L, 2-5) | 6 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| Gordon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Kramer (W, 5-4) | 8 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Slaats | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Umpires—Kevin Sweeney (Plate); Patrick Riley (First); Tim Vessey (Third).
T—2:16. A—1,019.
