StarBulletin.com

Slaats returns to help shut out Air Force


By

POSTED: Sunday, March 21, 2010

After a week away, Josh Slaats picked up right where he left off.

When the Hawaii right-hander last left the Les Murakami Stadium mound, Slaats was finishing a shutout of The Citadel on March 5.

He missed his next scheduled start with soreness in his elbow and returned last night to strike out a career-high 10 Air Force batters in the Rainbows' 4-0 win over the Falcons.

A crowd of 2,516 watched Slaats turn in an efficient 51/3 innings in his return to the rotation. Reliever Blair Walters added four more strikeouts over 22/3 innings and Lenny Linsky ran the team's total to 15 in the ninth in UH's second shutout of the season.

“;I don't think we could ask any more of Josh than what we got,”; UH head coach Mike Trapasso said. “;Outstanding effort, he was ahead in the count, he was firm and he was pain free.

“;These guys can swing the bat; that's no small feat to shut them out. They really are a good offensive club; we saw that last night.”;

Hawaii (9-9) scratched out two runs off Air Force starter Alex Truesdale, who also set a career high with 12 strikeouts through seven innings, before Kolten Wong gave the Rainbows a cushion with a two-run homer in the eighth.

Slaats sat out the Southern California series due to soreness in his elbow and walked the first batter he faced. He then struck out six of the next eight in an Air Force lineup hitting .311 as a team entering the game.

“;It was almost like dusting cobwebs off,”; Slaats said of the leadoff walk. “;I was rushing to the plate and I had to slow down and it was good after that. ... I felt like my slider was good. I located it well and threw it well with two strikes.”;

Truesdale matched zeroes with Slaats through three innings before UH broke through in the fourth. Collin Bennett doubled down the third-base line and scored on Pi'ikea Kitamura's two-out single up the middle that knocked Truesdale off his feet on its way to center field.

The Rainbows added a run in the fifth with the aid of two Air Force miscues. Sean Montplaisir reached on an error and Air Force right-fielder Garrett Custons mishandled Greg Garcia's sharp single, allowing Montplaisir to score Hawaii's second run.

Slaats surrendered just a bunt single through five innings, but ran into trouble when he gave up back-to-back singles to lead off the sixth. Trapasso brought in Walters after Custons' bunt moved the tying runs into scoring position on Slaats' 75th pitch of the night. Walters then struck out the next two hitters to end the threat.

“;That was the pitch total we agreed on and it was the right move,”; said Slaats, who lowered his earned-run average to 0.40.

 

YESTERDAY
HAWAII 4, AIR FORCE 0

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Air ForceABRHBIHawaiiABRHBI
B. Roberts 2b2010Montplaisir lf4100
Custons rf3000Garcia ss3130
Gentry 1b4000Wong 2b4112
Alexander dh4000Freitas c4010
Bast lf4020Bennett cf4110
Randhawa 3b4000Van Doornum dh4000
Carter cf3000Kitamura 3b4021
Lane c3000Torigoe 1b3000
M. Roberts ss3010Koissian rf3000
Totals30040Totals33483

                                                                                                                                                                                           
Air Force000000000 -043 
Hawaii000110 02x -482

 

E-Air Force 3 (Custons, Randhawa, M. Roberts), Hawaii 2 (Wong, Kitamura). LOB-Air Force 6; Hawaii 6. 2B-Bast; Garcia, Freitas, Bennett. HR-Wong. HBP-B. Roberts. SH-Custons. CS-Bast 2.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Air ForceIPHRERBBSO
Truesdale (1-3)8843112
HawaiiIPHRERBBSO
Slaats (W, 2-0)51/3300110
Walters22/310004
Linsky100001

 

Umpires - Dave Yeast (Home); Billy Haze (First); Heath Jones (Third).
T-2:30. A-2,516.

 

FRIDAY
HAWAII 15, AIR FORCE 6

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Air ForceABRHBIHawaiiABRHBI
Alexander dh4011Almadova cf2100
Carter cf4110Johnson rf2110
Randhawa 2b3000Garcia ss4121
Loosen 3b3001Wong 2b4113
Roberts ss3100Doi ph/2b0001
B. Roberts lf3220Freitas c2111
Custons c2221Fujii ph/c1000
Lane c0000Bennett rf/cf3312
Gentry 1b4010Koissian cf0000
Bast rf2001Macdonald 1b1010
Ausbun ph0001Torigoe 1b2324
Lerda-plog p0000Van doornum dh4021
     Kitamura 3b4111
     Chevalier ph/3b1110
     Brackenridge lf4230
Totals28675Totals35151614

                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Air Force201010011-672 
Hawaii01005072x-15161

 

E-Air Force 2 (Loosen, Koehler), Hawaii 1 (Johnson). DP-Air Force 2. LOB-Air Force 3; Hawaii 10. HR-Bennett, Torigoe. HBP-Freitas, Bennett, Brackenridge. SH-Loosen; Garcia. SB-Custons, Roberts, M. CS-Roberts, B., Alexander, Loosen; Brackenridge.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Air ForceIPHRERBBSO
Koehler41/354444
Baker (L, 0-3)11/332200
Ceci2/300000
Colangelo1/356610
Hourin133331
Lerda-Plog1/300000
HawaiiIPHRERBBSO
Spangler(W, 2-3)554436
Moore (SV, 1)422211

 

HBP-by Baker (Bennett); by Hourin (Freitas); by Hourin (Brackenridge). BK-Spangler.
Umpires - Heath Jones (Plate); Dave Yeast (First); Billy Haze (Third).
T-3:24. A-2.698.