No. 3 Rice hands UH its fourth straight loss, 9-1
Advertiser Staff
Freshman Philip Humber made up for a short outing in Honolulu by pitching eight shutout innings to lead Rice over Hawai'i, 9-1, yesterday in Houston.
The Western Athletic Conference baseball game was played before 2,312 at Reckling Park.
Humber (8-1) scattered three hits and four walks while striking out seven for the Owls (34-8, 16-1 WAC), winners of six straight.
In Humber's start against UH on March 8, he gave up three runs in 3á innings in a game won 9-7 by Rice on Hunter Brown's three-run home run in the top of the ninth off then-reliever Sean Yamashita.
Yesterday, Yamashita (2-5) started and surrendered six runs on nine hits and five walks in six-plus innings for the Rainbows (14-26, 3-11), losers of four in a row.
On a number of batters, it appeared that some of Yamashita's pitches just missed the strike zone. Three of the five walks he allowed ended up scoring.
"Sean pitched his heart out," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "He kept us in the game."
The teams were scoreless until a two-out, two-run single by Dave Bubela in the bottom of the third. The two runners who scored reached on walks.
The Owls added an RBI double by Eric Arnold in the fourth, an RBI single by Austin Davis in the sixth, and a solo home run by Vincent Sinisi and RBI double by A.J. Porfirio in the seventh to take a 6-0 lead.
An error and a catcher's interference accounted for three unearned runs off reliever Matt Le Ducq in the eighth to make it 9-0. The big blow in the frame was a two-run double by Porfirio.
The Rainbows averted a shutout in the ninth off David Aardsma, who replaced Humber to start the inning. Aardsma struck out the side between a Tim Montgomery single, a Cortland Wilson walk and an RBI double by Kevin Gilbride.
Hawai'i will try to avert a series sweep at 9 a.m. (HST) today behind freshman right-hander Ricky Bauer (1-4, 5.80). Rice is scheduled to start Justin Crowder (4-2, 1.96), who beat UH twice last year while playing for TCU.
The road trip isn't only about work for the Rainbows. After their game today, they will attend the San Francisco Giants at Houston Astros game at Astros Field.
