LaTech beats UH, 5-2
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Clayton Meyer handcuffed Hawai'i through the first seven innings in Louisiana Tech's 5-2 win last night to even the Western Athletic Conference series 1-1.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Rainbows (13-11 overall, 1-1 WAC) did not score until the eighth inning, when Meyer walked the bases loaded and eventually gave up a two-run single to Greg Kish before a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 3,004, the largest of the season.
Hawai'i's Erik Ammon had one of the six hits off Louisiana Tech starting pitcher Clayton Meyer in last night's game.
Meyer went eight innings, using 121 pitches, allowing six hits and five walks with four strikeouts. Steve Alverson pitched a perfect ninth with one strikeout for his second save for the Bulldogs (8-15, 1-1).
"My fastball was working away and my slider was working really good," said Meyer, a 6-foot-3 senior right-hander. "I was throwing everything for strikes. It's easy to pitch when you got all your pitches working."
Isaac Omura was the only Rainbow to pair hits.
"You gotta give that guy credit," Kish said. "He hit his spots. He was tough to figure out. I thought he pitched a really good game."
Against Meyer, the Rainbows had the batter leading off an inning reach only in the fourth and eighth innings. In the fourth, Matt Inouye and Luis Avila had successive singles, but Meyer struck out Rocky Russo, got Kish to ground into a force play at second and got Jose Castaneda to hit a comebacker to end the inning, stranding the runners.
Meanwhile, UH starter Ricky Bauer (1-2) got off to a strong start. He ended up pitching 4 2/3 innings, the third time in six starts he has not gone past the fifth inning. He allowed four runs on six hits with one strikeout.
"I felt good out there," Bauer said. "I left a few balls up and they hit it. They hit good pitches. I felt like I was back to normal."
In his first two innings, Bauer got six consecutive ground outs. He then struck out the first batter to start the third before Albie Goulder doubled to left-center, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when Matt Lacy grounded out to second to give Tech a 1-0 lead.
Bauer started off the fourth by allowing a single and double with both eventually scoring to make it 3-0. He gave up back-to-back singles with one out in the fifth before being lifted for Justin Costi, who just missed inducing an inning-ending double play on Adam Cobb, settling for the force at second. Ben Tabor's RBI single made it 5-0.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
"He started getting balls up," UH coach Mike Trapasso said of Bauer. "That was the whole secret. Early in the game, he was down in the zone. Later in the game, he just wasn't making the same pitches."
Louisiana Tech's Clayton Meyer said he had all his pitches working last night when he allowed UH just two runs on six hits in eight innings.
Costi settled down, allowing only an eighth-inning run in 4á innings of four-hit relief with four strikeouts.
Frustration was evident for UH in the seventh when Castaneda led off by grounding out to shortstop. He slammed his helmet to the ground and was benched the next inning. He was replaced by Derek Dupree.
"We don't tolerate that kind of (action)," Trapasso said.
It was a big win for the Bulldogs, who have played teams like Louisiana Lafayette, Arkansas and Oklahoma State, going 1-8 against them.
"We played a lot of tough teams this year," Meyer said. "We know Hawai'i's a quality program; they swept Florida State. It means a lot to come back to win."
Today's rubber game is at 1 p.m. Hawai'i will start Stephen Bryant (4-0, 1.49) on four days' rest. He last started in the 4-3, 15-inning loss to Winthrop on Tuesday.
Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8042
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