Catricala's power, Sisto's pitching get 'Bows a win
POSTED: Saturday, May 16, 2009
This week's nonconference series against Utah Valley has given Hawaii's pitchers a chance to rediscover themselves.
Freshman Matt Sisto followed Jayson Kramer's outstanding performance 24 hours earlier with seven scoreless innings as the Rainbows shut down UVU's high-powered offense for the second straight night in a 4-1 victory.
Vinnie Catricala wowed a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 2,025 with two home runs, and Sisto, who allowed 19 runs in his last three appearances coming in, showed outstanding control in his first quality start in nearly a month, with no walks and four strikeouts.
“;I knew I was throwing well from the beginning,”; Sisto said. “;It was close for a while, but I didn't have a doubt we were going to come out with the victory.”;
Sisto finished the day by getting Ryan Jones to line out to center with runners on second and third in the seventh.
Hawaii's allowed three runs in the first two games of this series after giving up four runs or more in 14 of its last 15.
“;Any time you can hold these guys scoreless for seven, you've done a pretty good job,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;I told Sisto thanks for coming, I told Vinnie thanks for coming, but outside of that overall it was a pretty lethargic win.”;
Catricala's two home runs gave him 12 for the season, joining teammate Kevin Macdonald as two of only four Rainbows ever to hit the 12-home-run plateau in a single season.
“;It's kind of caught on like wildfire, I guess,”; Catricala said. “;I think me and Mac combined had like six total last year, so I mean this year it's been great. We all chase each other and it's been fun. I love it.”;
After Catricala's first home run put Hawaii up 1-0 in the first, the Rainbows took a while to expand on the lead.
Hawaii got a leadoff double from Christian Johnson in the second, a leadoff walk by Greg Garcia in the third and had the bases loaded in the fourth with nobody out and failed to score.
“;We should be able to capitalize on those situations, but we just failed to execute,”; Catricala said.
His second homer, a bomb that traveled at least 400 feet over the wall in left field, increased Hawaii's lead to 2-0 in the fifth. Utah Valley starter Brock Sargent saw his day end after giving up a single to Macdonald and walking Kolten Wong. Johnson came through with an RBI single off reliever Kole Mickolio and Matt Roquemore drove in Wong with a single up the middle to put the 'Bows up 4-0.
Cole Anderson scored Utah Valley's only run with a solo homer in the eighth off reliever Connor Little that bounced off the light post in left field.
Johnson finished the game 2-for-3 with an RBI and Ryan Morford doubled with two outs in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.
Junior Nate Klein, the reigning Western Athletic Conference pitcher of the week, will start today's game against Utah Valley. First pitch has been moved back an hour to 7:35 p.m. because of graduation ceremonies.
WAC Standings
| Conference | Overall | ||||
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W-L | |
| San Jose State | 12 | 7 | .632 | — | 36-18 |
| Louisiana Tech | 13 | 10 | .565 | 1 | 28-19 |
| Hawaii | 12 | 12 | .500 | 2 1/2 | 31-22 |
| Nevada | 10 | 10 | .500 | 2 1/2 | 25-26 |
| New Mexico State | 11 | 12 | .478 | 3 | 40-15 |
| Fresno State | 10 | 12 | .455 | 3 1/2 | 26-27 |
| Sacramento State | 8 | 12 | .421 | 4 1/2 | 27-25 |
Yesterday
Fresno State 4, Sacramento State 3
San Jose State 3, Nevada 2
Hawaii 4, Utah Valley 1
Louisiana Tech 17, New Mexico State 9
Today
New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech, 8 a.m.
Fresno State at Sacramento State, 9 a.m.
Nevada at San Jose State, 10 a.m.
Fresno State at Sacramento State, noon.
Nevada at San Jose State, 1 p.m.
Utah Valley at Hawaii, 7:35 p.m.
Hawaii 4, Utah Valley 1
| Ut. Valley | AB | R | H | BI | Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | |
| Rickenbach ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Morford 2b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Anderson cf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Garcia ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brinkerhoff 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Catricala 3b | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Burgess dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Benson lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wong cf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kallunki 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Montplaisir lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Thorpe c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnson dh | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Hinckley dh | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Roquemore rf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Bargewell ph/rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fujii c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jones 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 34 | 1 | 9 | 1 | Totals | 32 | 4 | 9 | 4 | |
| Utah Valley | 000 | 000 | 010 | — | 1 | 9 | 1 | |||
| Hawaii | 100 | 030 | 00x | — | 4 | 9 | 0 |
E—Anderson. DP—Hawaii 1. LOB—UVU 8; Hawaii. 10. 2B—Brinkerhoff; Hinckley, Johnson. HR—Anderson; Catricala 2. SH—Roquemore. SB—Montplaisir. CS—Anderson.
| Utah Valley | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sargent (L, 2-9) | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Mickolio | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sisto (W, 5-4) | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Little | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Umpires—Patrick Riley (Plate); Tim Vessey (First); Kevin Sweeney (Third).
T—2:45. A—2,025.
