Updated at 9:35 p.m., Sunday, February 18, 2007
UH baseball team wins, 9-2, takes series with UCSB
Advertiser Staff
Josh Schneider pitched seven strong innings, and Jon Hee drove in three runs to lead Hawai'i over UC Santa Barbara, 9-2, today to take the series 2-1 at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara, Calif.Kris Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 16 games in his last at-bat of the game with a two-run home run to left, his fourth of the season.
Schneider (1-0) allowed two runs (one earned) and seven hits with no walks and one strikeout for UH (9-3). Tyler Davis added two scoreless innings of relief, allowing a hit and walk with three strikeouts.
The Gauchos (2-3) scored twice in the second. Mario Lewis led off with a double to left and took third on Cody Dee's sacrifice. Matt Valaika reached first safely on third baseman Justin Frash's fielding error that allowed Lewis to score. Shane Carlson was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second before Carlson was picked off at first by catcher Landon Hernandez.
But Chris Fox doubled to right to score Valaika and make it 2-0. Patrick Rose flied out to center to end the inning.
Hawai'i responded in the top of the third. Gauchos starter Mike Ford walked Hernandez and Derek DuPree to start the inning and Jorge Franco reached on a bunt single to third to load the bases. Ford's wild pitch to Jon Hee advanced the runners to pull UH to 2-1. Hee's sacrifice fly to left scored DuPree to tie the game at 2. Ford walked Frash and was pulled for Brian Tracy, son of Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jim Tracy. A wild pitch advanced the runners before Brandon Haislet struck out. Ford intentionally walked Kris Sanchez and then struck out Eli Christensen to leave the bases loaded and the scored tied.
In the UH fifth, Hee led off with a walk, took second on Frash's single to right, and Haislet's bunt single to third loaded the bases. But Sanchez grounded to second for a double play that scored Hee to give UH a 3-2 lead. Christensen also grounded out to second to end the inning.
Hawai'i sent eight batters to the plate in a four-run sixth. Kyle Brown started the inning for UCSB and hit Evan Zimny with a pitch, struck out Hernandez and allowed a single to DuPree to put runners at first and second.
Brown was lifted for Matt Wade, who walked Franco to load the bases. Wade was pulled for Justin Aspergen, who gave up a two-run single to Hee to put runners at the corners. Aspergen was yanked for Chuck Huggins, who walked Frash to load the bases. A passed ball advanced the runners to make it 6-2.
Haislet's sacrifice fly to left made it 7-2. Sanchez struck out to end the inning.
The Rainbows tacked on more runs in the ninth. With one out, Haislet singled off UCSB's sixth reliever Justin Segal, who then served up Sanchez's home run to left-center.
