Rainbows hold off Tigers, 12-10
Advertiser Staff
Hawai'i survived a ninth-inning scare to hold off Pacific, 12-10, yesterday in a nonconference baseball game at Billy Hebert Field in Stockton, Calif.
The Rainbows (31-21) took a 12-4 lead entering the bottom of the ninth and watched 11 batters come to the plate. Chuck Withers walked two, hit a batter and gave up an RBI single to reload the bases before being bailed out by Ricky Bauer, who faced seven batters to get the final three outs. He stranded the tying run on base to end the Tigers' season at 20-34.
BAUER
"That's why Rick was out there," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "Nothing fazes him."
Guy McDowell (4-1) pitched one-hit ball over 3á scoreless innings of relief for starter Steven Wright. Wright fell two-thirds of an inning shy of making the minimum five innings to qualify for the win. He allowed four runs, three earned, in 4¡ innings, giving up seven hits and three walks with one strikeout. McDowell had come off two shaky outings from the Nevada series.
"Obviously, we wanted to get him out there to shake the Reno weekend off," Trapasso said. "He did more than that. He was outstanding."
The Rainbows wasted little time against Pacific starter Erick Stolp (2-8), sending eight batters to the plate in a five-run first inning. Stolp lasted 1á innings and was charged with six runs on five hits and two walks.
Brian Finegan ignited the first inning with a lead-off triple and Isaac Omura's two-run home run capped it. The Tigers countered in the bottom of the first with Jesse Kovacs' sacrifice fly. An RBI single by Jaziel Mendoza in the second inning ended Stolp's day.
Andrew Sansaver hit a three-run home run in the fourth. Mendoza walked with the bases loaded and Rocky Russo had an infield RBI single to account for UH's two-run fifth as the Rainbows took an 11-1 lead.
Jordan Seiber's three-run double in the fifth was followed by a walk to Adam Ringer that ended Wright's day before McDowell restored order.
Withers started the bottom of the ninth by walking the first two batters and hitting the third to load the bases for Kovacs' RBI single that reloaded the bases. Bauer came in and gave up a two-run single to Seiber, while an error by shortstop Finegan prolonged the inning and drove in another run to make it 12-8.
Sacrifice flies by Octavia Amezquita and Brandon Gottier made it 12-10, but Bauer got Evan Bishop on a grounder to short for a force at second to end the game.
Pacific has two players from Hawai'i. Punahou graduate Nicholas Sekiya (0 for 4) started in center field. The other Hawai'i player is pitcher Davin Nakasone, a Pearl City High graduate.
The Rainbows will conclude their season with a three-game Western Athletic Conference series at San Jose State starting Friday.
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