George, Martines give Rainbows 8-4 win

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Chris George and Scooter Martines battled through their little adversities last night to lead Hawai'i over Louisiana Tech, 8-4, to momentarily move out of the cellar in Western Athletic Conference baseball.

Chris George allowed four hits and struck out 10 in pitching Hawai'i over Louisiana Tech last night. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

George (6-4) pitched eight strong innings, but his infield defense collapsed with three errors leading to three unearned runs in the top of the eighth inning.

"We had a little trouble fielding ground balls," George said. "But they've bailed me out of a lot of jams (in past games), so it was my turn to bail them out of a jam"

After George walked No. 8 hitter Dan Preaus to start the eighth, successive fielding errors by third baseman Danny Mocny and shortstop Julian Russell loaded the bases to set up Wade Robinson's two-run single. A second error by Russell reloaded the bases, prolonging the inning long enough for Cullen Simmons' force out to score the third run of the inning.

But UH coach Mike Trapasso gave his starter a vote of confidence.

"It was one of those things where he was on the fence and I was on the fence," Trapasso said. "He was in trouble, but none of it his making. He gave up one hit. The lead-off walk kind of got things started, but he was throwing well, he was throwing ground balls. But we got caught in two in-between-hops that we hurt ourselves on."

George allowed four runs, only one earned — a third-inning solo home run by No. 9 hitter Ryan Jackson — on four hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts.

Meanwhile, Martines, the senior co-captain, drilled his first home run of the season, a solo line drive over the left-field fence off Louisiana Tech reliever Matt Lacy. It was only the second home run of his UH career; his first came at TCU in 1999, his first season back after transferring from Texas Tech.

"It felt good," Martines said. "When I was growing up, my dad always told me when you hit a home run, it's a mistake, but I can say tonight that was a pretty good mistake. Took me about four years to get one out of this field."

The home run seemed inconsequential at the time because UH was leading 7-1, but after the Bulldogs batted around in the three-run eighth (leaving the bases loaded), it turned out to be a needed cushion.

"That might have been the best sounding hit we've had all year," Trapasso said of Martines' liner that left the park swiftly. "That ball just exploded off the bat. The sound was just so crisp. He just smoked it."

The Rainbows gave George an early cushion when they batted around in a four-run first off Bulldogs starter Lee Gwaltney (3-11). Three of his five walks came in the first, highlighted by a two-run single by Derek Honma. Tim Montgomery had an RBI single in the inning on a play that second baseman Brandon Haygood threw wildly to first, allowing another run to score.

"That's a big boost, especially in the first inning," George said of the run support.

The Rainbows also had a three-run sixth on RBI singles by Brian Bock and Lane Nogawa and an RBI force by Brent Cook.

Gwaltney allowed seven runs in six innings.

The Rainbows will try to win a second game of a WAC series for the first time this season at 6:35 tonight. Sean Yamashita (2-7) will pitch for UH against Louisiana Tech's Casey Blalock (7-7).

Notes: Prior to last night's game, the Hawai'i Winter League's Duane Kurisu was presented the Chuck Leahey Memorial Award for his promotion of the game of baseball over the years. The award is usually presented during the Rainbow Easter Tournament, but the plaque was temporarily misplaced.