LATE RALLY NOT ENOUGH AS BASEBALL FALLS TO HAWAI'I
4/17/2009
HONOLULU - The Sacramento State baseball team dropped a tough 5-4 decision to the host Hawai'i Rainbows in game one of a four-game series on Friday, April 17 at Les Murakami Stadium.
With the loss, the Hornets fall to 20-15 overall, 1-4 inside of the Western Athletic Conference, while the Rainbows improved to 22-12, 5-3 in WAC play.
The Rainbows opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, as following a two-out single by Vinnie Catricala, Kevin Macdonald hit a two-run homer to left center field, giving Hawai'i a 2-0 advantage. The Hornets cut the lead to a lone run in the top of the third, as senior Hunter Martinez connected on a two-out single that scored freshman Aaron Crouch, making the score 2-1.
But Hawai'i again would provide a home run in the bottom of the inning, as two runners on and no one out, Kolten Wong hit a three-run blast to right field to make the score 5-1 in favor of the Rainbows.
The score would remain that way until the top of the eighth, when the Hornets loaded the bases with nobody out. But after two straight outs without a runner crossing the plate, senior Jeff Roth finally drove home a run with a RBI single, pulling the Hornets to within three at 5-2. Leaving three runners on to end the eighth would prove costly for the Hornets, as after a pinch hit single by junior Joe España led off the inning, sophomore Brent Hottman took the first pitch he saw from Hawai'i reliever Sam Spangler over the left field wall for his fourth home run of the season, closing the gap to 5-4. Spangler, however, rebounded to record the final two outs and perserve the one-run victory for the homestanding Rainbows.
The Hornet bullpen was the story in the contest, as after sophomore starter Chris Baek got off to a rough start, allowing five runs in two innings, freshmen Alex Taku and Brent Harrison combined to allow no runs on just three hits the remaining six innings of play. Taku scattered two hits over four innings, while Harrison allowed just one hit pitching the final two frames.
Jayson Kramer (3-3) pitched a strong outing for the Rainbows, allowing just two runs on seven hits in eight innings of work. Despite giving up two runs on two hits in the ninth, Spangler held on to pick up his third save of the season. Baek (3-4) was saddled with the loss for the Hornets.
Offensively, the Hornets were led by Martinez, who went 3-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored in the contest. Six other Hornets picked up one hit apiece, but senior Blake Crosby (0-for-4) saw his team-high hitting streak end at 17 games. Hawai'i got two hits apiece from Catricala and Landon Hernandez, while Macdonald and Wong collected all five RBI for the Rainbows.
The two teams will face off once again when they play a doubleheader Saturday, April 18, starting at 6:05 p.m. Pacific time.
HONOLULU - The Sacramento State baseball team dropped a tough 5-4 decision to the host Hawai'i Rainbows in game one of a four-game series on Friday, April 17 at Les Murakami Stadium.
