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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, February 17, 2003

Rainbows rally to beat Hornets, 8-7

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Their execution took a day off yesterday, but not the intensity and emotion of the Hawai'i baseball Rainbows.

UH right fielder Josh Green can't snag a home run hit by 'Aiea grad Aaron Powell of Sacramento State.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Rainbows scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to rally past Sacramento State, 8-7, and sweep the three-game series. They stretched their winning streak to five, the longest in second-year coach Mike Trapasso's tenure.

"It was pretty much a gut check for our team and we came out on top and, hopefully, it will continue this way," UH co-captain Josh Green said.

Green's bases-loaded infield single — the ball ricocheting off the glove of pitcher Joe Guntz and bouncing toward second base — scored pinch runner Schafer Magana with the winning run.

It was an emotionally draining day for a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,365. They watched as UH (6-1) failed to execute two sacrifice attempts, stranded eight runners in scoring position and had one runner picked off base before the ninth-inning comeback.

The victory denied the Hornets (5-4) from giving 25th-year coach John Smith his 700th career coaching win. He was ejected in the bottom of the sixth after arguing about a play at homeplate.

"We let the emotion of the game really take over," Trapasso said. "When you do that you're going to struggle, you're going to make mistakes ... The guys have to learn how to separate the emotion from the intensity. We can look and say we're happy we won, but we've got a lot of maturing to do."

The Hornets sent right-hander Andy Mohr (0-1) to protect a 7-5 lead to start the bottom of the ninth. Freshman Rocky Russo and JC transfer Jaziel Mendoza led off with successive singles.

Trapasso then sent Arthur Guillen to pinch-hit for Tim Montgomery, who was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, to sacrifice. After a 1-1 count, Guillen bunted foul twice to strike out. Drew Jackson's ensuing flyout to deep right probably would have advanced the runners if the bunt attempt had been successful.

With two outs, freshman Tyler Wightman was disciplined enough to not chase a bad pitch on ball four to load the bases.

"It's my situation," said Wightman, who was making his starting debut at designated hitter. "The guy has the pressure on him."

UH freshman Tyler Wightman was making his starting debut at designated hitter.

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Brian Finegan, who has hit safely in every game and was 3-for-3 with two doubles yesterday, drew a walk to force in a run and chase Mohr.

Left-hander Guntz walked Brent Cook to score pinch runner Matt Inouye to tie the score at 7 and bring up Green, whose sacrifice fly in the eighth pulled UH to within two. He had struck out in two previous at-bats before the sacrifice fly, stranding a combined three runners in scoring position. Green was told to take a pitch until he got a strike. On a 1-2 pitch, he drilled a grounder back to Guntz.

"When I hit it, I knew I hit it pretty hard," Green said. "It just took a big hop and it turned out fortunate for us. Once I saw it tip his glove, I knew I had to beat it out."

Freshman Michael Peck (1-0) made his season debut, giving up a bloop single in a scoreless top of the ninth.

Hawai'i's troubles started on the mound, where starter Ricky Bauer lasted 1á innings, allowing three runs on six hits, including a two-run home run to right by freshman Aaron Powell, who played for 'Aiea High last year.

"It was kind of a shock that I hit it out," Powell said. "It was an up-and-away pitch. It felt good hitting it out, home crowd, hometown. Felt good to come home and play."

Powell is one of four Sacramento State freshmen who played high school ball in Hawai'i. All played yesterday. Moanalua grad Jim Strombach started in center field. Roosevelt grad Chris Mols allowed a run on four hits in one-third of an inning of relief, and Kamehameha alum Shannon Kahale gave up a run in one inning of relief.

The Rainbows also made some lineup changes. Finegan, who has batted ninth, moved to leadoff. Also, freshmen Jackson and Wightman made starting debuts at catcher and DH, respectively.

Trapasso said he was considering pinch-hitting Jackson in the ninth, if the sacrifice was successful. But when it wasn't, he decided to test the freshmen in the pressure situation.

"We brought these guys in because we think they can play," Trapasso said. "This is the only way we're going to find things out. It's the only way they're going to mature, so we left them in, and Wightman gets a big walk. Those guys weren't scared. They went out there doing a good job and Peck goes out there and gets his first win."

Finegan said he did not want to let down the cheering fans.

"It really pushed us to get the job done because we want to fill this place," he said. "Once we got big hits in the eighth and the ninth, it worked for us. It was a fun day."

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