UH baseball sweeps Florida International

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Clary Carlsen and Nate Thurber made the most of nothing to propel Hawai'i over Florida International, 7-3, yesterday, completing a three-game series sweep.

Nate Thurber is greeted by Hawai'i teammates after hitting a three-run homer. The Rainbows won, 7-3. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Carlsen (1-2), a senior right-hander making his second start of the season after being used solely as a reliever last season, turned in seven innings, allowing three runs (one unearned), six hits, two walks and two hit batsmen with two strikeouts. He credited his defense because he said his pitches had "absolutely nothing."

"They kind of saved me today," Carlsen said of his fielders. "It was awesome."

The Rainbows made more good plays than the two errors they committed. Third baseman Creighton Kahoali'i, who had three errors in the series, made a basket catch of a foul pop in front of the third-base dugout in the third inning. First baseman Andrew Sansaver made an over-the-head catch of a foul fly behind first base in the fourth inning. And second baseman Schafer Magana made an over-the-shoulder catch of a pop to shallow right-center.

"We made some pretty good catches," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.

Meanwhile, Thurber supported Carlsen with his bat, crushing a three-run home run to ignite a four-run fourth inning against Jon Banke (0-1), who charged with five runs in three-plus innings for FIU.

"It was a split-finger that didn't do anything," Thurby said of the pitch.

Trapasso was pleased with Thurber's performance in the series in which the junior college transfer batted 4 for 10 with a double, two home runs (the first coming in Saturday's 5-4 win) and six RBIs.

"He came up big," Trapasso said. "He does not necessarily have to be a home run hitter for us, but just a run-producer."

The Rainbows scored first in the third inning. Thurber led off with a walk and advanced to third on Greg Kish's bloop double to right-center. An out and a hit batter later, Thurber scored on Brian Finegan's sacrifice fly to center.

The Golden Panthers took the lead in the top of the fourth inning on Brian Aragon's two-run home run to right-center.

But as they had done four of five times in the series, the Rainbows scored in the bottom half of innings after the Golden Panthers scored in the top half.

In the UH fourth, Kahoali'i led off with a line single to center and took second on a wild pitch before Sansaver walked, setting up Thurber's home run. Kish followed with a bloop single to right-center and took third when Magana reached on a sacrifice and throwing error by catcher Adrian Casanova. Robbie Wilder flared an RBI single to right to make it 5-2.

"That's a sign of toughness," Trapasso said of the Rainbows' ability to score after their opponents do. "That's the mark of a team that has heart."

The Rainbows added a run in the fifth on a single by Magana and another in the sixth on a double by Josh Green to make it 7-2.

The Golden Panthers got an unearned run in the seventh. With one out, Luis Rivera doubled and took third when Finegan could not handle the return throw to the infield from Green. Rivera scored when P.J. Lehman grounded out to first to make it 7-3.

Guy McDowell pitched two hitless innings, allowing a hit batsman, to finish off FIU.

The Rainbows have the day off today, but will play their first mid-week game of the season against Hawai'i Pacific at 6:35 p.m. tomorrow.

Trapasso said he wants to give other pitchers some work with freshman Steven Wright (0-1) getting the start.

The Sea Warriors, an NCAA Division II program, are 5-4, including a three-game sweep of UH-Hilo. Hawai'i Pacific has not played since Feb. 7 against Sonoma State.

The Rainbows plays the Vulcans in a three-game series starting Friday night. The Vulcans (4-11) have not played since Feb. 1 against HPU.

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

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