Hawai'i baseball gets charge from Jackson
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Nate Jackson's first name should be Action.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The two-sport athlete sparked Hawai'i with three hits, three runs, two stolen bases and a flattened catcher to rally Hawai'i past Oregon State, 12-9, to take two of three of the non-conference series yesterday.
Hawai'i's Nate Jackson, bowling into OSU's Bryan Ingram, provided the Rainbows with big plays yesterday.
Jackson, who made his season debut April 14 at Texas Christian, started in center field yesterday for Arthur Guillen. Guillen sat out as a precaution after sustaining a mild concussion Saturday night, when a pitch hit him on his helmet. Jackson himself missed a good portion of the season after having foot surgery because of an injury sustained from football last fall.
"He gives us that electricity," UH acting coach Carl Furutani said. "He's a gamer."
Jackson, known for vicious hits as a free safety on the Warriors' football team, created some controversy in the first inning when he ran into catcher Bryan Ingram, who was blocking home plate. Jackson was on second and was given the go-ahead sign to score on Gregg Omori's ground single to left. Left fielder Chris Biles came up with the ball as Jackson was approaching third, easily getting his throw to Ingram ahead of Jackson. Instead of sliding, Jackson collided with Ingram, who held the ball for the second out of the inning.
Oregon State coach Pat Casey was ejected after arguing that Jackson should have been ejected, feeling the collision was flagrant.
But it is what Jackson did in later at-bats that helped UH starter Chad Giannetti (4-4) get his second consecutive winning decision after the Rainbows fell behind 4-1 after the top of the fourth inning.
Twice Jackson had singles, stole second and eventually scored. He also had a bunt single in the Rainbows' seven-run sixth to load the bases and set up a two-run single for Matthew Purtell.
Jackson also recorded seven putouts, several on drives to the wall.
His spirited play gave the Rainbow Stadium crowd of 1,196 a lot to cheer about as Guillen's replacement in the lineup. It was just his seventh appearance for the season, but his first start. He said X-rays show that his foot is "fully healed and I'm going to go ahead and play as hard as I can."
Meanwhile, Giannetti said he left some pitches over the plate early that gave OSU a 4-1 lead. But after giving up a two-run home run to No. 9 hitter Zach Gordon in the fourth, he settled, allowing two hits and a hit batter over the next four innings.
But he faltered in the ninth, when the Beavers (28-18) threatened a rally with five runs. Giannetti retired just one of the first four batters he faced before giving way to closer Bryan Lee.
"I wasn't tired," explained Giannetti, who threw a season-high 134 pitches. "A lot of pitches, I was just missing."
Giannetti, who used 109 to beat Rice on April 21, allowed seven runs, seven hits and three walks in 8 1/3 innings.
But Lee, whose appearances have been infrequent because of few save opportunities, wasn't exactly a mystery to OSU. He was rocked for five hits and two runs before getting the final two outs, stranding the bases loaded. He retired Kerisi Reynolds on a slow grounder that he fielded himself and barely beat the batter to the bag to end the game.
"Baseball is a game of nine innings," Jackson said of UH's rally and OSU's try for one. "As you can tell by that last one, it doesn't matter how many you're down or up. It's possible for teams to come back. We could be up by a lot and still get beaten in the last inning."
The Rainbows (22-24) have one more non-conference game before returning to Western Athletic Conference play this weekend. They will play at Sacramento State (18-28), 11 a.m. Hawai'i time tomorrow, in a makeup of a rained out contest Feb. 21.
The Rainbows then move on to Nevada for a three-game WAC series starting Thursday.
• • •
• Fresno State 4, Hawai'i-Hilo 3: The Bulldogs scored three runs in the fourth inning on a home run by Ben Fritz and a run in the fifth to defeat the Vulcans in a WAC game at Beiden Field in Fresno, Calif.
Fresno State is 32-19, 15-11 in the WAC. Hilo is 5-33, 3-21.
Joey Myers singled to left field to open the fifth, went to third on a single by Oscar Lopez and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Josh Labandeira, giving the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead.
The Vulcans closed to 4-3 on a two-run single by Darren Chu in the seventh inning.
The three-game series ends today.
HAWAI'I-HILO (5-33, 3-21) 010 000 200 — 3 11 4
FRESNO ST. (32-19, 15-11) 000 310 00 x — 4 9 1
Zeb Watts, Sergio Reyes (7) and Todd Jinbo. Bob Runyon, Ozzie Gonzalez (7), Jason Gutknecht (8), Ben Fritz (9) and Brad Harper. W—Runyon (6-1). L—Watts (0-6). S—Fritz (6).
Leading hitters: Hilo—Nalei Sooto 2-4, double, 2 runs; Jimbo 2-3; Darren Chu 2-3, 3 RBIs.Fresno State—Oscar Lopez 3-4, double; Fritz 2-4, 3-run homer.
