Posted on: Sunday, March 27, 2005
Fresno State hands UH fifth loss in row, 6-3
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Advertiser Staff
A two-run squeeze play ignited a four-run sixth inning as Fresno State beat Hawai'i, 6-3, last night in Western Athletic Conference baseball at Beiden Field in Fresno, Calif.
The two-run suicide squeeze single by David Gomez broke a 2-2 tie and helped the Bulldogs (16-15 overall, 2-0 WAC) win their fifth in a row.
The Rainbows (13-15, 1-4) have lost five in a row and seven of their last eight since sweeping nationally ranked Florida State three weekends ago.
The Rainbows will try to avert a sweep in today's series finale (11:05 a.m., Hawai'i time). The game will be broadcast live on KKEA (1420 AM). Justin Costi (1-2, 3.37) will start for UH against Doug Fister (3-2, 3.31).
Eddie Romero (4-2) pitched four innings of relief yesterday, giving up a ninth-inning run on two hits and one of his three walks. He replaced Michael Cooper, who pitched five innings.
Stephen Bryant (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season, allowing six runs on six hits and four walks with four strikeouts in 6á innings.
Beau Mills' two-run homer with two outs in the first gave FSU the early lead. UH tied it in the fourth. Isaac Omura led off with his team-leading fifth home run. An out later, Greg Kish doubled to left, took third on Schafer Magana's sacrifice and scored when center fielder Nick Moresi dropped Adam Roberts' flyball.
Bryant had retired 12 in a row when he walked Moresi and Mills with one out in the sixth. Both advanced on a wild pitch. Then, with Moresi breaking for the plate, Gomez bunted the ball toward the mound as Moresi easily scored. In Bryant's apparent haste in getting to the ball, it got past him, allowing Mills to score from second.
"There's no defending it (when the bunt is executed properly), you have to concede it and just get the out," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "But it gets under him and two runs score."
Gomez reached second on Chase Moore's single to left. After Steve Susdorf flied out to left, Bryant's second wild pitch put runners at third and second, setting up Ryan Overland's two-run single that made it 6-2.
"It wasn't the squeeze (that hurt), it was the add-on runs," Trapasso said. "You can't give up the big inning."
Hawai'i had a good scoring opportunity in the third when it had runners on first and third with no outs and eventually the bases loaded with one out, but failed to score.
"We're just not hitting," Trapasso said. "We've been like this pretty much all year. We're up and down offensively and when we're on our down cycles, we're not able to generate anything. Every run (you allow), every error you make can be magnified."
