Posted on: Monday, May 31, 2004
Rainbow baseball swept by San Jose, 6-4
Advertiser Staff
San Jose State rallied from another deficit, scoring five runs in its last two innings to beat Hawai'i, 6-4, to complete a Western Athletic Conference sweep yesterday at Blethen Field in San Jose, Calif.
It was the third consecutive loss for the Rainbows (13-16 WAC, 31-24 overall) and eighth in their last 10 to finish fourth for the second consecutive season. The Spartans (11-19, 23-31-1) finished fifth.
Hawai'i could have finished third with a win because second-place Fresno State (17-12) beat Nevada (14-16), 12-1, to complete a series sweep. The Wolf Pack finished a half-game ahead of the Rainbows.
The Rainbows, who blew a 7-1 lead in Saturday's 10-9 loss, took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh. But the Spartans got two in the seventh and took the lead on Joshua Lansford's three-run home run in the eighth.
Hawai'i starter Clary Carlsen (6-8) went seven-plus innings, allowing six runs — five earned — on 10 hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
He entered the eighth having thrown 115 pitches, showing signs of faltering the previous inning, when he allowed a solo home run to Brandon Fromm and RBI single to Kevin Frandsen.
But with his two main relief pitchers burned from Saturday's game — Guy McDowell was pressed into starting after Stephen Bryant aggravated a back injury and Darrell Fisherbaugh used 40 pitches in 2° relief innings — UH coach Mike Trapasso said he had no choice but to stay with Carlsen.
"We're overworked in the bullpen and we're at that stage where I told Clary what the situation would be if we got into that exact scenario," Trapasso said. "I told him, 'It's your game.' "
In the eighth, Ryan Angel led off with a single and took second on a sacrifice by Anthony Contreras, who reached first on Carlsen's fielding error. Lansford drilled a 1-1 pitch to left to make it 6-4. Travis Becktel singled on Carlsen's 127th pitch of the game before being pulled for Steven Wright.
For the second day in a row, Brad Kilby (4-1) benefitted from the rally. He pitched three-hit ball over four innings, striking out three.
The Rainbows trailed 1-0 on a second-inning RBI single by Fromm. But a three-run home run by Greg Kish and a solo homer one out later by Jaziel Mendoza in the fifth inning put UH up 4-1.
The Rainbows finished with one more win from last year's overall record and two wins better than last year's WAC record of 11-19. They finished 10› games behind conference champion Rice.
Meanwhile, the Owls (24-6, 43-12) were awarded one of the 16 regional sites for the 64-team NCAA tournament. The defending national champions will learn what teams they are hosting when the field is announced this morning. No other WAC schools are expected to be awarded a berth. Second-place Fresno State is 29-29. • • • • • •
