Rainbows win, clinch winning season

Advertiser Staff

Who would have thought senior Brian Bock's first triple of his University of Hawai'i baseball career would have so much significance on this season?

The catcher tripled with one out in the top of the ninth and scored the go-ahead run on Josh Green's sacrifice fly to lift the Rainbows over San Jose State, 5-4, last night in a Western Athletic Conference game at Municipal Stadium in San Jose, Calif.

For one, the Rainbows (29-25 overall, 10-18 WAC) clinched a winning record after last year's 16-40 finish, the worst in the program's history, for second-year coach Mike Trapasso.

Secondly, it was UH's first win at SJSU since March 1, 1998.

Also, the win keeps UH's hopes of attaining 30 wins and finishing fourth in the WAC alive. The series continues at 10 a.m. (HST) today and at 9 a.m. (HST) tomorrow.

"It couldn't have come at a better time," Trapasso said of Bock's first three-base hit. "I thought it was going to leave the yard, but it bounced off the wall. He couldn't have picked a perfect time for his first triple."

Having been at UH only two seasons, Trapasso did not realize UH's struggles at San Jose.

Bock scored the deciding run after the Spartans (24-31, 9-18) tied the game at 4 on Jordan Bergstrom's two-out, solo home run off UH starter Ricky Bauer, who was charged with four runs on eight hits with three strikeouts in 7á innings.

Clary Carlsen (3-3) pitched the final 1¡ scoreless innings, but got a scare in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Jon Heuerman doubled to left-center, only to get thrown out trying for a triple. Center fielder Matt Inouye hit cutoff man Isaac Omura, who fired a strike to third baseman Brent Cook, who applied the tag for the second out. Carlsen struck out Anthony Contreras to end the game.