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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, March 5, 2010

The Citadel takes opener


By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

On a blustery and wet night, Hawai'i's relief pitching allowed as many runs, six, as its starter and The Citadel drenched the Rainbows, 12-8, last night.

David Green's two-run home run capped a four-run top of the seventh inning to rally the Bulldogs (6-1) from a 6-4 deficit before 1,072 at Les Murakami Stadium.

"We played extremely hard," The Citadel coach Fred Jordan said of the team's fourth consecutive win. "I was very pleased offensively. We pitched pretty well. Hawai'i really made some nice swings in that sixth inning."

Hawai'i coach Mike Trapasso was not immediately available after the game. Presumably because of the rain, his postgame meeting was held in the locker room.

Alex Capaul (2-1) could not preserve starter Nate Klein's 6-4 lead in the seventh. Klein hit William Ladd and later gave up a two-out, RBI single to Brad Felder before being pulled for Capaul, who gave up an RBI double to Matt Simonelli and later Greene's two-run homer that gave The Citadel an 8-6 lead.

But Connor Little and Harison Kuroda each didn't fare better after Capaul, each giving up two runs in ensuing innings that insured the Bulldogs' lead.

Klein gave up six runs, seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 61/3 innings for the Rainbows (4-5).

Simonelli led the Bulldogs' 14-hit attack by batting 3 for 5 with four RBI. Nick Orvin was 3 for 5 with four runs scored. He had a double and triple.

In the first six innings, the Rainbows had an answer each time the Bulldogs scored. Trailing 4-2, the Rainbows sent eight batters to the plate in a four-run sixth in chasing Bulldogs' starter TJ Clarkson, who allowed six runs and five hits in 51/3 innings. Hawai'i got an RBI double from David Freitas, a two-run double by Jeffrey Van Doornum and a sacrifice fly from Sean Montplaisir to take a 6-4 lead.

After The Citadel's four-run seventh, it tacked on two in each of the last two innings to negate UH's two-run eighth from a two-run triple by Garcia.

Chris Boyce (2-0) pitched only two-thirds of an inning, allowing a hit, but was the beneficiary of the Bulldogs' four-run rally in the seventh. Matt Reifsnider added a scoreless inning, though Raymond Copenhaver gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning. Closer Drew Mahaffey walked three in 11/3 scoreless innings for his fourth save.

With UH trailing 10-8 and the tying run at the plate, Mahaffey walked Kolten Wong, but struck out Kevin Macdonald to end the threat.

The series resumes with a doubleheader starting at 3:35 p.m. today. The first game is scheduled for nine innings and the second is set for seven innings.

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