UH's Carlsen shuts down Spartans in 6-1 WAC win

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

For Hawai'i, it was just a matter of time before disposing of pesky San Jose State, 6-1, yesterday to take the Western Athletic Conference baseball series, 2-1.

UH's Schafer Magana tries to get away from San Jose State second baseman David Pierson in a rundown. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

For the UH batters, it was the fourth inning.

Carlsen (6-3) notched his second consecutive complete game and won his fourth consecutive start in becoming UH's first hurler to reach six wins this season. He gave up a run on four hits, while walking two with four strikeouts in front of 1,230 on military appreciation day at Les Murakami Stadium. The fans had a lot to appreciate because UH (5-4 WAC, 19-11 overall) increased its lead to 1 1/2 games from third-place San Jose State (5-7, 15-15-1) and Fresno State (2-4, 14-20), but remains 4 1/2 back of Rice (11-1, 24-6), which swept three at Nevada.

The Spartans opened the game with a double to left by Ryan Angel and a flare single to center by Anthony Contreras before Kevin Frandsen walked on four pitches to load the bases. That prompted a visit by pitching coach Chad Konishi, whose words of wisdom apparently worked, because cleanup hitter Brandon Fromm hit the first pitch to shortstop for a double play that allowed SJSU to take a 1-0 lead, but minimized damage. From there, Carlsen was in control, using an efficient 95 pitches.

"I guess I didn't have my focus right at the beginning," Carlsen said. "That's a big thing for me, trying to get focused. That's what gets you through the whole game, but it took a little while to find it."

Just what did Konishi tell him?

"He told me he loved me, that I was just a nice guy, made me feel a lot better, then I got a ground ball," Carlsen joked. "He just calmed me down, told me to take my time, be patient, work on hitting spots instead of just throwing."

How Carlsen overcame the first was crucial.

"It was big, just the way he was able to work some damage control," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "To allow one (run) with the bases loaded and nobody out was just a great effort on his part. The double play obviously was huge, but that settled him and settled the game for us."

It was imperative for Carlsen to find his rhythm because SJSU starter Brandon Dewing, a left-hander, survived by having some rockets off UH bats find leather. With one out and a runner at second in the first inning, Matt Inouye flied out to deep center and the left-handed hitting Jaziel Mendoza lined out to the opposite field. In the second, with runners at the corners and two out, Schafer Magana lined out to right.

Each player would exact revenge later in the game. For Magana, it was the fourth inning.

Rocky Russo led off by beating out a bounding ball to second for a single before Andrew Sansaver popped out to third and Nate Thurber flied out to left. Creighton Kahoali'i's ground single to left sent Russo to second. This time, Magana lined a two-run double to right-center to give UH a 2-1 lead.

"I was pretty upset (about the first-inning lineout)," Magana said. "I tried to keep the same mind set, tried not to get (upset) about the first at-bat. I just used the same approach (for the double)."

The Rainbows took out an insurance policy in the seventh, chasing Dewing (1-5) in the process. With two out, Brian Finegan walked and took second on Greg Kish's single to left. Right-hander Jose Amaya came in to face the right-handed hitting Inouye, who lined an RBI single to right that sent Kish to third, setting up Mendoza's two-run triple to right to make it 5-1.

"I've been hitting the ball hard lately," Mendoza said. "It's just that one finally fell in for me."

Left fielder Mendoza also brought his A-game on defense. He hauled in two drives to the gap, the second resulting in an inning-ending double play in the eighth when Angel was ruled out on appeal for not touching second before retreating to first.

Hawai'i added a run in the eighth on Magana's RBI single.

"It was a great series from a fan's perspective," Trapasso said. "There were three good games with good pitching and good defense from both sides."

Notes: UH next has a non-conference series against Sacramento State. Keahi Rawlins will start tomorrow's game, while Steven Wright is schedule for Wednesday. Both games start at 6:35 p.m. ... UH outfielder Paki Lum has been on leave from the team since before the recent road trip for personal reasons, UH coach Mike Trapasso said. Trapasso said Lum is still a member of the team ... KFVE experience technical difficulties from its on-site production truck twice during yesterday's game. After the second glitch, all but one of the cameras had been dismantled, so when the station returned to the air in the eighth inning, the broadcast was done with only the home plate camera.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8042.

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