Rainbows' injuries begin to mount

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

The losses kept mounting for the Hawai'i baseball team. And not just in the win-loss column.

Texas Christian's Patrick Newburn pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief in the Horned Frogs' WAC victory over Hawai'i. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

It was the Rainbows' 10th loss in 11 games, dropping them to 8-14 and 3-10 in the WAC. The Horned Frogs are 15-9 and 6-2.

Hawai'i is starting to feel the effects of injuries to its players. For starters, reliever Chris Quiroz left the team earlier in the week. An elbow injury he suffered before coming to UH in the fall has not fully recovered so he decided to quit playing, UH acting coach Carl Furutani said. The transfer from UC-Santa Barbara is considering returning to his previous school to complete his education, Furutani said.

Utility infielder Lane Nogawa pulled a hamstring earlier in the week and will be out about 2-4 weeks, Furutani said.

Yesterday, shortstop Cortland Wilson injured his ankle after stumbling near second base in the eighth inning when Texas Christian's Terry Trofholz bluffed a steal attempt. His status will be evaluated today.

"All these freaky kind of stuff has been happening," Furutani said.

On top of that, senior outfielder Scooter Martines said he will probably redshirt this season. He still hasn't fully recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. Martines has a .322 career batting average in two seasons with UH after transferring from Texas Tech.

The Rainbows activated infielder Gary Ahu Jr. and pitcher Ikaika Faraon. Hawai'i was planning on redshirting both freshmen, but both made their debuts yesterday.

While both could still redshirt by staying within NCAA guidelines (appearing in less than 20 percent of the team's games before midseason), both, too, are nursing injuries. Ahu has a nagging back and Faraon had an anterior cruciate ligament injury while at Moloka'i High.

"We've been having a lot of these little things happen throughout the whole time," Furutani said. "But I didn't want to make that a reason why things are happening to us. Our ball players didn't want that either."

Yesterday, Texas Christian got a two-run triple by Trofholz, a two-run home run by Jason Price, RBI double by Rudy Rivera and solo home run by Tom Bates against UH starter Jeff Coleman (1-4), who pitched six-plus innings.

The Rainbows gave Coleman a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on Gregg Omori's two out, RBI single.

TCU's Terry Trofholz reaches first before Chad Giannetti's pickoff throw reaches first baseman Danny Kimura. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai'i closed to 3-2 in the fifth. Wilson led off with a single, stole second and took third on Matthew Purtell's sacrifice. Wilson then scored on Omori's ground out to second.

But Price's two-run homer in the sixth cushioned TCU's lead to 5-2. The Horned Frogs added two more in the seventh and one in the eighth.

Chris Bradshaw (5-1) allowed two runs and nine hits in five innings for TCU.

The series continues at 2:05 p.m. today. Hawai'i right-hander Sean Yamashita (0-3, 5.97 ERA) will face TCU left-hander Justin Crowder (3-2, 3.34).

Injuries and the fact that the Rainbows will face a left-hander probably means new starters at some positions.

Derek Honma, who hasn't fully recovered from a shoulder injury earlier this season, or Shane Chan, might start in center field.

Ahu might start if Wilson is unavailable.

"In this kind of situation, you just have to mix and match," Furutani said. "Put the best personnel out there."

RAINBOWS BOX SCORE

E — Purtell, Scalabrini, Le Ducq. DP-TCU 1. LOB-TCU 12, Hawai'i 9.

2B — Rivera, Moses, Omori, Montgomery. 3B-Trofholz. HR-Bates, Price. SB-Trofholz, Rivera, Macha, Wilson. SH-Rivera, Purtell.

Coleman pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

HBP — Purtell by Bradshaw. BK-Bradshaw, Giannetti, Faraon.

T — 3:01. A-536