Rainbows reeling before WAC tournament time
POSTED: Monday, May 18, 2009
The atmosphere of this year's senior day festivities had an awkward feeling to it.
For one, the bitter taste of a punchless 10-2 loss to Utah Valley in the final game of the baseball regular season was a tough one to take.
But even as seniors Jared Alexander, Ryan Morford, Shane Hoey, Jayson Kramer and Landon Hernandez were presented with leis and adorned in appreciation by a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,538, the finality of their last regular-season home game wasn't as strong as it normally is.
Not with the Western Athletic Conference tournament being held here beginning in three short days.
“;It's bittersweet,”; Morford said. “;It's nice and all that, everyone is here and supporting us, but this doesn't feel like the end and we're not looking at this as the end. We know what we've got to do and it starts with Louisiana Tech.”;
The Rainbows, who finished the season 31-24 and one game under .500 in WAC play, are the fifth seed and will take on the second-seeded Bulldogs in the final game of the first day of the tournament on Thursday at 7 p.m.
They'll need to have short memories entering the tournament in order to forget about the final two games of this weekend's series against the Wolverines. After a dull 12-1 loss Saturday night, Hawaii showed even less life in yesterday's finale, tallying a total of three hits against a team whose starting pitcher entered the game with an 11.97 ERA.
“;Two of the worst games we've played all year,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;We looked spent and lethargic all weekend.”;
Kyle Beecher (3-3) and three other Wolverines stifled Hawaii's offense despite allowing six walks and hitting two batters. When Hawaii got on base, three double plays slowed any momentum to fight back from an early 4-0 hole.
Utah Valley's Chris Benson followed hitting for the cycle Saturday with three more hits and four RBIs yesterday, and Jake Rickenbach finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, two walks and three runs scored.
“;Our energy level wasn't where we want it, but we know when the WAC tournament rolls around we're going to be pumped for it,”; freshman Kolten Wong said. “;Not taking away anything from Utah Valley, but when you know you're supposed to win, it's especially frustrating to lose.”;
The Rainbows showed the most fire when Cole Anderson hit a ball over the fence near the left-field foul pole in the seventh. Third-base umpire Tim Vessey called it a home run, drawing a reaction from Hawaii catcher Kevin Fujii, who immediately started talking to the home-plate umpire.
After Trapasso came out to argue, the umpires came together and ruled the ball foul. Anderson lined out to right two pitches later, but Jace Brinkerhoff singled to score a run and the Wolverines continued to pile up runs against six different UH pitchers.
The 'Bows finally put some offense together in the bottom of the inning, but after Christian Johnson's RBI single scored Wong, Shane Hoey bounced into another double play, ending any hopes of a big inning.
“;Sometimes the breaks just don't go your way,”; Wong said.
Alexander (3-2) started the game for Hawaii, but couldn't make it out of the third inning, allowing eight hits and four runs to take his first loss since March 20.
“;He didn't have much,”; Trapasso said. “;Step forward, step back, I don't know, but he's got to pitch well for us next week.”;
Hawaii won't practice today and tomorrow as Trapasso urged his team to stay away from the ballpark for a full two days.
“;I told them go to the beach, go to a movie, just don't let me see you here,”; Trapasso said. “;We'll just try to get away from it, clear our heads and we'll tee it up on Thursday.”;
Top seed San Jose State will face sixth-seeded Nevada for the fifth time in six days in the first game on Thursday at 11 a.m. Three-time defending WAC champion Fresno State will take on fourth-seeded New Mexico State at 3 p.m.
WAC Standings
| Conference | Overall | |||||
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W-L | ||
| San Jose State | 15 | 7 | .681 | — | 39-18 | |
| Louisiana Tech | 13 | 11 | .542 | 3 | 28-20 | |
| New Mexico State | 12 | 12 | .500 | 4 | 41-15 | |
| Fresno State | 12 | 12 | .500 | 4 | 28-27 | |
| Hawaii | 11 | 12 | .478 | 4 1/2 | 31-24 | |
| Nevada | 10 | 13 | .434 | 5 1/2 | 25-29 | |
| Sacramento State | 8 | 14 | .364 | 7 | 27-27 |
Yesterday
Utah Valley 10, Hawaii 2
San Jose State 9, Nevada 3
Thursday
» Game 1: San Jose State vs. Nevada, 11 a.m.
» Game 2: Louisiana Tech vs. Hawaii, 7 p.m.
» Game 3: Fresno State vs. New Mexico State, 3 p.m.
Friday
» Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11 a.m.
» Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3, 3 p.m.
» Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m.
Saturday
» Schedule dependent on number of team's left after Friday's games
Sunday
» Championship, 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., if necessary
Utah Valley 10, Hawaii 2
Yesterday
| Ut. Valley | AB | R | H | BI | Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | |
| Rickenbach ss | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | Morford 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Anderson cf | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Garcia ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brinkerhoff 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Catricala 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Burgess rf | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Benson lf | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Wong cf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kallunki 1b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Montplaisir lf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Arendse c | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Johnson rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Hinckley dh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hoey dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Doxey ph/dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fujii c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Jones 2b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 42 | 10 | 18 | 9 | Totals | 27 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Utah Valley | 202 | 003 | 102 | — | 10 | 18 | 1 |
| Hawaii | 000 | 000 | 200 | — | 2 | 3 | 1 |
E—Johnson. DP—UVU 3, Hawaii 1. LOB—UVU 13, Hawaii 6. 2B—Rickenbach 2; Brinkerhoff; Benson. 3B—Benson. CS—Jones.
| Utah Valley | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Beecher (W, 3-3) | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Bennett | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nelson | 1 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Ayoso | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Alexander (L, 3-2) | 2 2/3 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Davis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Spangler | 2 2/3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Little | 2/3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Kuroda | 2 1/3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Capaul | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WP—Ayoso; Alexander; Spangler; Capaul.
HBP—by Beecher (Johnson); by Beecher (Montplaisir).
Umpires—Kevin Sweeney (Plate); Patrick Riley (First); Tim Vessey (Third).
T—3:21. A—1,538.
Utah Valley 12, Hawaii 1
Saturday
| Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | Fresno St. | AB | R | H | BI |
| Rickenbach ss | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Morford 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anderson cf | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Garcia ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brinkerhoff 3b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Catricala 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burgess rf | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Benson lf | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Wong cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kallunki 1b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Van Doornum rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arendse c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Montplaisir lf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Hinckley dh | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Johnson dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jones 2b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Torigoe ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Roquemore rf/cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Hoey ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Fujii c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Totals | 39 | 12 | 12 | 9 | Totals | 31 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Utah Valley | 200 | 201 | 025 | — | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 000 | 000 | 100 | — | 1 | 5 | 2 |
E—Garcia. LOB—UVU 6; Hawaii 7. 2B—Benson; Hinckley; Garcia. 3B—Benson; Montplaisir. HR—Benson. HBP—Arendse. SH—Fujii. CS—Kallunki.
| Utah Valley | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
| Smith (W, 8-4) | 8 1/3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | |
| Whatcott | 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
| Klein | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | |
| Moore | 1 1/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Linsky | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| Slaats | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| Kuroda | 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Umpires—Tim Vessey (Plate); Kevin Sweeney (First); Patrick Riley (Third).
T—3:03. A—2,797.
