Hawai'i rallies past LaTech in series opener, 8-4
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Rainbows are visible at night after all.
Hawai'i rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh on two two-out RBI hits — or what the team calls "rainbows" — to beat Louisiana Tech, 8-4, last night to remain in sole possession of second place, 4 1/2 games back of Rice (12-1) in the Western Athletic Conference.
A Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,131 watched the Rainbows (6-4 WAC, 21-12 overall) win their the opening game of a WAC series in four series and saw UH coach Mike Trapasso get ejected in the seventh after Greg Kish was called out on strikes to start the inning. It was after that the Rainbows began their three-run rally with an RBI single by Andrew Sansaver to tie it and Creighton Kahoali'i's two-run single to give UH the lead.
A two-run, two-out triple by Schafer Magana in the eighth provided insurance for Guy McDowell (1-0), who pitched 3¡ scoreless innings of relief for starter Ricky Bauer, who was charged with four runs in 5 1/2 innings.
"This is a good team win," McDowell said. "Everyone came together at the end there. The hitters came together, defense. Everything worked out good."
Matt Lacy (1-6) was charged with six runs, four earned, in 6á innings for the Bulldogs (3-10, 12-27), losers of eight in a row.
The Rainbows had a 3-1 lead entering the top of the fifth until the Bulldogs pulled to within one on a squeeze by Brandon Haygood. In the sixth, they tied it on an RBI single by Gary Holik that chased Bauer. McDowell came in to face Mims Boyce. Holik tried to steal second, but was caught in a rundown that allowed pinch runner Dusty McHale to score before Holik was tagged out to give LT a 4-3 lead.
In the UH seventh, Kish led off against Lacy and on the 10th pitch of the at-bat, home plate umpire called Kish out on strikes. After Kish stormed back to the dugout, Trapasso came out to argue and didn't take long to get ejected. Coaches are not supposed to argue pitch calls. Trapasso did not say the reason he was ejected, but did admit the team needed some inspiration.
"It's not like we were playing bad, but we were sleep-walking through the first six innings," Trapasso said. "We weren't playing really inspired and we needed something to get us going. So we got a situation where our guys reacted in a great way. It's something that's not a big deal, but those things happen."
But UH center fielder Matt Inouye, who started the rally with a single, said he wasn't thinking about losing his coach, but just concentrated on his at-bat. He was 3 for 5 with his conference-leading 16th double and team-leading 10th steal.
"It's good for us to come from behind," Inouye said. "As the season goes along, we have to do it more and more."
After Inouye's single, Jaziel Mendoza grounded a single to center to put runners at first and second. Rocky Russo drilled a grounder down the third base line, but third baseman Stephen Winters made a diving stab at the ball and easily tagged third for the force for the second out.
Sansaver grounded a 1-2 pitch up the middle to score Mendoza with the tying run, as Russo stopped at second. Andrew Alsup came in for Lacy to face Nate Thurber, who reached safely on a fielding error by second baseman Brandon Haygood to load the bases. Kahoali'i's two-run single chased Alsup for Brody Love, who got the third out.
All of UH's RBI hits came with two outs. Russo's two-run single in the first came with two outs, as did Magana's two-run triple.
"Any type of situation like that, our team has been stepping up big," Sansaver said.
The series resumes at 6:35 tonight. Stephen Bryant (4-2, 2.17) will pitch for UH against Clayton Meyer (4-3, 5.00), who beat UH at Louisiana Tech earlier in the season.
Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8042.
