Baseball 'Bows fall short in season finale, 6-5
Advertiser Staff
There would be no miracle rally as in last year's season finale for the Hawai'i baseball team.
The Rainbows scored three runs in the top of the ninth, but it wasn't enough as they dropped their season-worst eighth in a row in a 6-5 loss to Fresno State yesterday at Beiden Field in Fresno, Calif. It was the Western Athletic Conference season finale for both teams.
Conference champion Rice (47-11, 28-2 WAC) is guaranteed an NCAA tournament berth. Runner-up San Jose State (45-15, 21-9) is expected to land an at-large berth.
Last year, the Rainbows rallied for seven runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat UH-Hilo, 9-8, to end the season.
The Bulldogs (32-27, 19-11) sent retiring coach Bob Bennett off on a winning note. He coached at FSU for 34 seasons. His successor is expected to be named soon.
For the fifth time since 1995, the Rainbows (16-40, 5-25 WAC) have finished last in the conference. Their overall record is the worst since the program started playing a Division I schedule of more than 30 games in 1975.
Zach Minor (6-4) had kept the Rainbows in check through eight innings, taking a 6-2 lead into the ninth. But Julian Russell led off with a triple and, two outs later, Lane Nogawa walked to put runners at the corners. Brent Cook drilled a three-run home run to left-center to pull UH to within one. But Chad Edwards came on to strike out Scooter Martines for the final out.
Senior Sean Yamashita (2-9) gave up five runs — four earned — on five hits in five innings. Brian Pierce's two-run home run highlighted a three-run second inning. Chris Patrick added a two-run single in the fifth.
William Quaglieri, senior Matt Le Ducq and Bryan Lee pitched an inning each; Le Ducq surrendered what turned out to be the decisive run — an RBI single by Scott Beshears — in the seventh.
Hawai'i scored in the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Brian Bock and Danny Mocny and again in the sixth on Tim Montgomery's solo home run.
If there was a highlight in the series for the Rainbows, it was the strong finish by senior outfielder Derek Honma. First, he played the last half of the season with a tender wrist, making it difficult to hit. He entered the FSU series hitting .264. But after an 8-for-12 series, he finished the season with a .307 average.
"That was so awesome watching him go off like that," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.
Most of the Rainbows return home this afternoon. Most of the players who live on the Mainland were expected to depart to their homes from Fresno.
