Fresno State Bulldogs sweeps twinbill
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Photo gallery: UH baseball |
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Fresno State continued its fine pitching, but this time it was the one to come up with the timely hits in sweeping a doubleheader from Hawai'i, 5-0 and 4-2 in 10 innings, yesterday to salvage a split of the four-game Western Athletic Conference series.
Clayton Allison fired a four-hitter in the opener for the Bulldogs (10-12 overall, 2-2 WAC) and Brandon Burke tossed three scoreless innings of relief and was the beneficiary of a two-run 10th in the nightcap before 1,535 at Les Murakami Stadium.
The sweep closed a competitive series for the Rainbows (9-14, 2-2) against the two-time defending WAC champions. The Bulldogs outscored the Rainbows, 9-8, in a series in which the last game was the only one which didn't end in a shutout.
"It was a game of attrition," UH coach Mike Trapasso said of the nightcap."Neither team was hitting at all. Somebody had to get a hit and end this thing and they were the ones that made it happen."
"Both of them were gutsy wins," FSU coach Mike Batesole said. "Give them a lot of credit, too. It was just two teams beating the heck out of each other for four games. When you get to league, that's what it's all about."
The Bulldogs had four solid starts, but could not come up with the timely hit in the first two games won by UH.
"It was just who was going to get the clutch hits here and there," Batesole said. "They got 'em the first two, we got 'em the second two. Give both teams credit for pitching (well) and playing great defense all weekend."
The Rainbows had opportunities in the nightcap, but failed to execute. They failed to make bunts in three situations and lost three runners on the base paths.
"The reality is the pitcher never should've thrown the pitch because they put a pick on and the shortstop's out of position and he makes the pitch," Trapasso said. "Seeing that it was a broken play, Nate didn't swing (to protect the runners), which he is not supposed to do on the hit-and-run, but the problem was Zimny at first base wasn't watching the lead runner."
Haislet ended up getting caught in a rundown between second and third, but long enough for Zimny to reach second. Although Young eventually walked, Jon Hee struck out to end the inning.
"That was a play that just totally killed that inning," Trapasso said of losing the base runner.
"They pitched out," Trapasso said. "Nothing you can do about that."
"Haislet's pickoff, that just happens," Trapasso said. "He was just trying to get a good jump."
Appropriately, the nightcap was the toughest of the four games. The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead on a fifth-inning, two-run home run by Danny Muno off UH starter Matt Daly.
But the Rainbows responded with two in the bottom of the fifth by taking advantage of a wild spell by the Bulldogs' pitching staff. Starter Justin Miller walked two in the inning and allowed a single to load the bases with one out. But reliever Holden Sprague, after striking out the first batter he faced, walked two batters in a row to force two runs in to tie the game at 2.
Brandon Burke (2-3) was able to follow with three scoreless innings, while UH's Jayson Kramer kept the Bulldogs off the board for 4 1/3 innings, having thrown 51 pitches to that point. But after getting the first out in the top of the 10th, fatigue started to show, as Steve Susdorf doubled down the left-field line and scored on Alan Ahmady's triple to right. With the infield drawn in, pinch hitter Ryan Overland was hit by a pitch. With runners at the corners, Steve Detwiler hit a grounder to shortstop Young, who elected to throw home, but Ahmady beat the throw on the fielder's choice to make it 4-2. Kramer was lifted and freshman Alex Capaul retired the next two batters to end the inning.
In all, Kramer (0-1) went five innings, giving up two runs, three hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
Matt Daly made the start in the nightcap after not having thrown in relief the first three games. Trapasso made the fourth game starter a game-time decision. Daly went 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs four hits and five walks with eight strikeouts. But he closed in on 100 pitches before completing five innings, an issue that has prevented him from going longer.
"By not using him in the first three games, the last thing I wanted to do was go four games and throw who is the best guy left an inning or two at the end," Trapasso said. "The reality is, it was more of what we've seen. We'll probably stick with him in the pen, unless it's just a different situation."
In the opener, the Rainbows had few chances against Allison (1-2), who allowed four hits and a walk with four strikeouts. No Rainbow reached third base.
The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the fifth against UH starter Josh Slaats on an RBI single by Danny Muno. The blew it open with a four-run eighth, highlighted by a three-run home run by Susdorf off reliever Harrison Kuroda. Slaats (0-2) went a season-high 7 1/3 innings, allowing three runs, four hits and four walks with three strikeouts.
The Rainbows just completed a stretch where they played 13 games in 16 days. They hit the road for a four-game series at Sacramento State starting Friday. They have a midweek game at nationally ranked Stanford on April 1 and resume WAC play at San Jose State April 4 to 6.
Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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