UH, The Citadel stay unbeaten in baseball tourney

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff

Hawai'i first baseman Andrew Sansaver tags out Oregon State's Paul Richie in the second inning. The throw came from catcher Matt Inouye. UH won, 10-1. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Rainbows (2-0 in the tournament, 11-7 overall) won their second in a row in limiting the Beavers (0-2, 8-3), who are 20th in Collegiate Baseball's rankings, to two hits before 721 at Les Murakami Stadium.

Bryant (2-1) allowed a first-inning run and had five strikeouts. But he walked five and hit two batters. He allowed three walks and a hit batter in the first inning.

A bases-loaded walk scored Oregon State's only run, but Bryant escaped further damage in the first inning when third baseman Rocky Russo fielded Aaron Mathews' grounder, stepped on third and fired to catcher Matt Inouye, who applied a tag on Jacoby Ellsbury to complete the inning-ending double play.

The first inning lasted nearly an hour as both starting pitchers struggled with their control. A steady rain didn't help, as the pitcher's mound moistened.

"It was a little bit (of a problem), but not really," Bryant said of his first-inning woes. "It wasn't the mud. Three walks and a hit batsman shouldn't happen. I just came back out and refocused."

He did, getting through the second through fourth innings efficiently. In the fifth, Bryant hit the lead-off batter and issued his fourth walk, but escaped unscathed.

"We were fortunate we got the double play in the first inning," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "Those were tough conditions for both pitchers. After that double play, he was able to settle down a little bit. He still wasn't able to throw a ton of strikes, but he overcame and battled through it. It was a tough outing for him."

Rich Olsen hit a batter and saw one batter reach on catcher's interference in three scoreless innings of relief to earn his first save.

"He really threw well tonight," Trapasso said. "He was really down in the zone. He threw his curveball for strikes."

Beavers starter Kyle Aselton (0-1) lasted two-thirds of an inning, getting pulled after facing eight batters when the Rainbows sent nine to the plate in their three-run first inning.

Robbie Wilder walked, but was forced at second on Brian Finegan's failed sacrifice attempt. But Inouye and Josh Green also walked to load the bases. A passed ball scored Finegan and moved up the other runners before Russo walked to reload the bases. After Andrew Sansaver struck out, Nate Thurber grounded an 0-2 pitch up the middle for a two-run single to make it 3-1.

"It was a big hit," Trapasso said. "He puts one up the middle and now we're up by a couple of runs."

"The guy came back in (with his pitch) and that surprised me," Thurber said of his two-run single. "I fought that one off. It was a tough pitch to hit."

The Rainbows added four runs in the third inning to chase reliever Jared Sanders. An RBI single by Thurber, who finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs, an error, an RBI groundout by Wilder and a squeeze by Finegan accounted for the runs.

"Against the 20th-ranked team in the nation, it was crucial to get on them really fast," Thurber said of the three first-inning runs. "It gave us momentum. Inning by inning, just keep on going."

The Rainbows conclude the round-robin portion of the tournament at 6:35 tonight against The Citadel. Ricky Bauer will start for Hawai'i.

In the first game at 2 p.m., Chicago State plays Oregon State.

THE CITADEL 5, CHICAGO STATE 0: Josh Stackley and Trent Weathers drove in two runs apiece to lead the Bulldogs (2-0, 4-4 overall) over the Cougars (0-2, 0-5) in yesterday's first game.

NOTES: The Western Athletic Conference champion UH softball team was honored prior to last night's game. Coach Bob Coolen and UH athletic director Herman Frazier threw out the ceremonial first pitches.

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