honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, May 23, 2004

Baseball 'Bows break through at Nevada

Advertiser Staff

DARRELL FISHERBAUGH


ROCKY RUSSO

Darrell Fisherbaugh pitched out of an eighth-inning jam, and Rocky Russo drove in five runs to help Hawai'i hold off Nevada, 13-7, yesterday in Reno, Nev.

Hawai'i snapped a four-game losing streak and won for the first time at Nevada after 10 consecutive losses there to move into a tie for second place with Fresno State in the Western Athletic Conference at 13-12, eight games behind conference champion Rice. At 30-20 overall, the Rainbows matched last year's win total with five games to go.

The Wolf Pack dropped to 13-13 and 29-26.

Although not particularly sharp — he threw first-pitch strikes to only two of 15 batters he faced — Fisherbaugh made big pitches when they counted most. He allowed two runs in three innings to post his sixth save. He came in after Guy McDowell allowed back-to-back singles to the two batters he faced. McDowell came in for starter Stephen Bryant (8-4), who walked the first batter in the seventh. Bryant was charged with five runs in six-plus innings. He walked four and struck out eight.

"(Fisherbaugh) was struggling with strike one, but he battled," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.

With UH holding a 9-5 lead in the bottom of the eighth, Fisherbaugh gave up two runs and loaded the bases with no outs. With his lead cut to two runs, he got Joe Mercer to ground into a double play that nailed a runner at the plate. He then struck out Chris Gimenez — who had a pair of two-run home runs in the game — with runners in scoring position to foil Nevada's rally.

The Rainbows got four runs in the top of the ninth, spurred by Russo's two-run double. Russo batted 4 for 5.

Greg Kish, who was ejected the day before, also was 4 for 5 and Matt Inouye hit a three-run home run.

The Rainbows saw seven Wolf Pack pitchers, tagging six of them for 13 runs on 19 hits, one shy of a season-high they had against UH-Hilo on Feb. 21. Bryan Johnson (2-3) blew Nevada's 2-1 lead in the fifth on a two-run single by Russo.

Nevada starter Adam Colton was scratched just before the start of the game, apparently hurting his arm in warmups. Chris Scott got the last-minute call, allowing a run on five hits in three-plus innings.

"I wanted to break this streak," Trapasso said. "We hadn't won in four games and we hadn't won here (at Nevada). We just wanted to get things going and Fish was able to pick us up and our offense was outstanding again all day."

Brian Finegan and Andrew Sansaver each had three hits. Isaac Omura had two RBIs while "having the best 0-for-4 game you'll ever see," Trapasso said. "He was hitting the ball on the nose all day long, right at guys."

Meanwhile, Robbie Wilder, who walked and was hit by a pitch, aggravated his hamstring while running the bases and left in the sixth inning. Besides a shoulder injury and his hamstring problems, he also broke his nose earlier in the week during batting practice.

The series concludes today at 10 a.m. HST. The game will be broadcast live on KKEA (AM 1420).

Clary Carlsen (6-6) will start for UH against Ryan Rodriguez (4-7), who beat the Rainbows, 8-3, at Les Murakami Stadium on May 1.