George, Bock lead Hawai'i to victory

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Chris George pitched a complete-game, seven-hitter as Hawai'i beat Sacramento State, 3-2, last night Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The senior right-hander survived a shaky start and scattered seven hits and two walks to pitch UH's first complete game of the season in a 3-2 win against Sacramento State in collegiate baseball last night.

Catcher Brian Bock's one-out sole home run in the sixth snapped a 2-all game, but the next eight batters were retired in order to keep the game tight.

"The only thing I really said when we got together was, 'Chris, thanks for coming tonight,' " UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "He won that game for us."

Because of George's effort, two delays totaling two hours, 40 minutes — the scheduled 5:05 p.m. start was delayed 2:20 and a power failure halted action for 20 more minutes after the bottom of the first inning — could not put a damper on the 611 at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Rainbows (4-1) have won three in a row, while the Hornets (5-2) had a modest two-game win streak snapped.

"We came out with good intensity and good focus, but we kind of lost that a little bit," Trapasso said. "But George didn't. That's the mark of a team, when you're trying to get things to come together. You hope that when one phase of the game struggles, another phase can pick it up."

George (2-0) engaged in a pitching duel with Sacramento State starter Marshall Plouffe (0-1), who allowed three runs in six innings. They were even until Bock lined a 2-2 pitch over the left-field wall about 10 feet inside the foul line. It was his first homer of the season.

After giving up an RBI single to Everet Rincon in the fourth that tied the game at 2, George retired nine Hornets in a row before allowing a two-out walk to Tim Reimer and a single John Acha. But he struck out Chris Kinsey to end the inning.

In the eighth, he allowed a one-out walk to Jesse Schmidt, who was forced out at second on Bret LeVier's grounder. LeVier also was called out when the umpire ruled runner's interference. George then retired the side in order in the ninth. He used 108 pitches and still managed to strike out eight.

"This is fun," George said of the tight game. "This is what you play for. It's do or die out there. You want to be the guy that gets it done, so I love these situations more than a blowout."

"He was a little shaky at the beginning, but every inning got better and better," Bock said. "That's the way Chris works. His best innings are seven, eight, nine. He had command of all four pitches tonight. He shut the door and won the ball game for us."

Bock's homer provided the difference. He said he hit a low inside fastball. It avenged a previous at-bat, he said.

"I wasn't sure what I was going to get," Bock said. "I was a little upset from the at-bat before. I took two strikes down the middle and ended up popping up. I just wanted to hit a ball hard, two strikes. I got the pitch, inside and low, and nice, easy swing."

After the power outage, the Hornets scored in the top of the second. With one out, LeVier blooped a single to left-center, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on Matt Wilson's ground single to right. Despite another single by Moanalua graduate Jim Strombach and a sacrifice by Rincon, George got Reimer to ground out to shortstop to limit the damage.

The Rainbows got two in the bottom of the second. Andrew Sansaver led off with a walk, took second on Bock's sacrifice and scored on Tim Montgomery's double to right. Montgomery then scored on Brian Finegan's ground single to center to give UH a 2-1 lead.

But the Hornets tied the game in the fourth. Schmidt and LeVier opened the inning with back-to-back singles and advanced on Wilson's sacrifice. Wilson reached safely at first when second baseman Isaac Omura dropped first baseman Sansaver's throw to load the bases. After Strombach lined into a double play at second to leave runners at the corners, Rincon's line single to right scored Schmidt to tie the game at 2.

Tonight's game also is scheduled for 5:05 p.m., instead of the usual 6:35 p.m. start. Hawai'i will send left-hander Justin Cayetano (0-0) against right-hander Kinsey (1-0).