UH routs Lewis-Clark State
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Freshman pitcher Ricky Bauer had his best outing of the season as the University of Hawai'i beat Lewis-Clark State, 14-3, last night to capture second place of the Ohana Hotels Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament at Les Murakami Stadium.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Rainbows (12-20) finished the tournament with a 4-2 record, the same as Birmingham-Southern and UC Riverside. However, entering last night's game, UH needed to win by six to clinch the run-differential tie-breaker.
University of Hawai'i's Arthur Guillen slides home with a second-inning run as Lewis-Clark State catcher Tyler Best awaits the throw. Guillen scored on Gregg Omori's single during an eight-run rally.
The Rainbows won their third in a row, matching their season-longest win streak after they swept UCLA Feb. 15-17.
Bauer (1-3) allowed three runs, two earned, and seven hits with three strikeouts in eight innings, his longest stint in five starts. He threw 80 pitches; the highest number of pitches he used in an inning was 12 (four times).
Bryan Lee pitched a scoreless ninth for the Rainbows.
"I really thought about sending (Bauer) back out there," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "Two reasons: We had the big lead and I wanted to get him out of there feeling great about his effort, his first win against a great team. And really more than anything else, Bryan needed to get the work because he has not been real sharp and we've been working on a couple of things here and there. He threw pretty well so it was a good-pitched game all around."
Bauer said a psychologist who spoke to the team all week helped him focus.
"He said to just relax and follow through," Bauer said. "It's stuff I already knew, but just overlooked."
Added Trapasso: "It was just to get us relaxed, get us in the proper frame of mind. Like we said all year, 'Not play not to lose, but rather to play to win. And just go after it.' We were able to get a little success and really started implementing that. It's something we believe in and hope we can carry on the rest of the season."
Bauer said he had command of his fastball, which he was able to move around with success.
Advertiser library photo •Jan. 26, 2002
Hawai'i had its most productive inning of the season when it sent 13 batters to the plate in an eight-run second inning, when it chased Lewis-Clark State starter Collin Perschon (1-1) after 1¡ innings and six runs. Brent Cook's two-run double and Gregg Omori's two-run single accounted for half the damage.
Ricky Bauer had a seven-hitter over eight innings last night.
Omori added a three-run double in the fifth and UH added three more in the seventh on RBI singles by Cook and Kevin Gilbride, and the third run on one of three errors by Lewis-Clark State in the inning.
Every Rainbow starter scored at least one run. Each starter, except Omori, was either walked or hit by a pitch at least once. Five UH batters were hit by pitch.
It was 8-0 before Lewis-Clark State (20-10, 2-4) got its first run in the bottom of the second; it was 11-1 before it got its second run in the fifth. Lewis-Clark State's last run came on a solo home run by Mike Madrid in the sixth.
The Rainbows resume Western Athletic Conference play beginning Thursday with a three-game series against Nevada.
Notes: Pitcher Sean Yamashita was the only UH player named to the all-tournament team. He pitched the Rainbows to two victories. ... The three games yesterday drew a turnstile count of 952.
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• BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN 10, HAWAI'I-HILO 7: Despite hitting four home runs, the Vulcans could not hold off the Panthers (17-13), who finished 4-2 in the tournament.
Chad Agustin (3-for-5) hit two homers, and Johnny Dudoit and Nalei Sooto hit one each for the Vulcans (9-30-1), who finished 1-5 in the tournament.
Connor Robertson batted 3-for-4 with a home run and Adam Tucker was 3-for-4 for the Panthers.
Wes Letson (2-1) allowed two runs in 1¡ innings for the Panthers, while Jason Castro (3-4) gave up seven in 5¡ innings for the Vulcans.
• • •
• UC RIVERSIDE 6, HAWAI'I PACIFIC 3: Adam Seuss batted 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Randy Blood also had two RBIs for the Highlanders (19-11), who finished 4-2 in the tournament.
Chris Smith (5-3) allowed three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out 10 for the Highlanders.
Sean Paiva (0-2) allowed three runs in 1¡ innings of relief for the Sea Warriors (17-22), who were 0-6 in the tournament.
Derek Little's three-run homer in the fourth gave HPU a 3-1 lead, but the Highlanders tied it in the sixth and added two in the seventh and one in the eighth.
