George, Bock lift Hawai'i by Fresno
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
It was ohana night for University of Hawai'i batterymates Chris George and Brian Bock.
With their immediate families among the 1,582 at Les Murakami Stadium, George pitched eight strong innings and catcher Bock had three hits and two RBIs to lead to the Rainbows over Fresno State, 7-5, last night to clinch their first Western Athletic Conference series in UH coach Mike Trapaso's two seasons.
"It feels good," Trapasso said. "Truth is, what's important now is what we tell our guys (which) is to win. We won and we won the series and we hope Keahi (Rawlins) throws as well as Ricky (Bauer, Friday's winning pitcher) and Chris have thrown and give us a chance tomorrow."
The Rainbows (22-19 overall, 4-13 WAC) will try to sweep at 1:05 p.m. today and try to take the season series from the Bulldogs (21-19, 7-7), who won two of three at Fresno on March 7-9. Freshman Rawlins (3-2) will pitch for UH.
Left-hander Donnie Bair (2-0) is the probable starter for FSU.
George (6-5) allowed a run on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts in eight innings.
He used 115 pitches before giving way to Justin Cayetano, who struggled by allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.
Guy McDowell faced two batters to get the final out for his second save.
George posted zeros after the first inning to give his offense time to score.
"He wasn't afraid to throw anything on any count," Bock said of George. "That's what you need to do if you're going to win."
"It was mainly getting ahead of the hitters," George said. "That was the big key and working off the changeup. I think the change was probably my best pitch tonight. I worked my slider off my changeup when I needed a big out."
Bock was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI and a stolen base.
He has usually caught the majority of games until recently when Trapasso felt his catcher need a breather.
"I think it makes me want it more," Bock said of his days off. "But sometimes it is good to just sit back and watch the game, see how they're pitching different hitters. It also helps, keeps me fresh."
The UH battery's accomplishments had even more meaning as Bock's father and brother came from California for the game, as did George's parents. Bock even talked to his mother via cell phone after the game. Bock said his mother could not make the trip because of work.
It was George's second consecutive strong outing; he had a complete-game four hitter in a 4-1 win at Louisiana Tech on April 12.
"The way we've been playing of late is encouraging," Trapasso said. "We just gotta keep it up and do it the rest of the way."
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