Updated at 7:23 p.m., Sunday, March 25, 2007
Hawai'i rallies to beat Nevada in WAC baseball, 5-4
Advertiser Staff
Jon Hee's RBI single highlighted a two-run eighth inning to rally Hawai'i past Nevada, 5-4, today as the Rainbows won two of three in the Western Athletic Conference baseball series.The Rainbows (21-9, 2-1 WAC) beat Kody Keroher (3-2) for the second time in the series by scoring two in the eighth.
The Wolf Pack dropped to 15-14 and 1-2.
Tyler Davis (4-0) pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief for UH.
Neither starter — UH's Josh Schneider (three runs in 4 1/3 innings) and UN's Kyle Howe (three runs in 1 1/3 innings) — figured in the decision.
The Wolf Pack got two gift runs in the first. With one out, Jason Rodrigues singled and Shaun Kort walked. Baker Krukow then reached first when first baseman Kris Sanchez's throw to second for a force was wild, scoring Rodrigues and leaving runners at first and second. Matt Suleski then grounded to short for a force at second to put runners at the corners. The Wolf Pack then executed a double steal with Kort scoring to make it 2-0. After Mike Hale was hit by a pitch, Konrad Schmidt fouled out to first to end the inning.
The Rainbows got one of the runs back in the bottom of the first. With two outs, Justin Frash walked, took second on a balk and advanced to third when Brandon Haislet beat out a grounder to short for a single. Sanchez followed with an RBI single to right that moved Haislet to third to make it 2-1. Evan Zimny flied out to right to end the inning.
Hawai'i took the lead in the second in chasing Howe. Vinnie Catricala led off with a single and took third on Landon Hernandez's single to right. Nate Young's sacrifice fly to center tied the game at 2. Jon Hee's single to right put runners at the corners. Derek DuPree's ground-rule double to right gave UH a 3-2 lead and put runners at second and third. Howe went 2-0 on Frash before being lifted for left-hander Jacob Kaup, who wound up walking Frash to load the bases. But Kaup struck out Haislet and got Sanchez to ground out to second to minimize the damage.
Nevada tied it in the fifth. Jason Rodriguez drew a one out walk and took second on a wild pitch with Kort at the plate. Schneider was pulled for Matt Daly. Kort grounded out to second to advance the runner. Baker Krukow singled to right to tied the game at 3. Daly struck out Matt Suleski to end the inning.
The Wolf Pack broke the deadlock in the eighth against Davis with two walks and a two-out RBI single by Nick Sansone to give Nevada 4-3 lead.
Hawai'i took the lead in the bottom of the eighth against Kody Keroher.
With one out, Vinnie Catricala doubled to left and was lifted for pinch runner Matt Roquemore. After Landon Hernandez struck out, Eli Christensen's ground-rule double to right-center tied the game at 4. Hee's RBI single to left scored Christensen to give UH a 5-4 lead. Keroher was pulled for Ben Colton. DuPree walked and was lifted for pinch runner Jorge Franco, but Frash grounded out to first to end the inning.
