Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Hawaii Hilo
No. 19 Baseball Ends Losing Streak
3/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 2, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - No. 19 Fresno State held off a late rally by Hawai'i-Hilo and broke its two-game losing streak Thursday night with a 5-3 victory at Pete Beiden Field. The Bulldogs improved to 12-4 overall and 3-1 in the WAC with the win, while the Vulcans saw their record fall to 10-13 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
Fresno State jumped on Hawai'i-Hilo starter Jason Lippert for a pair of runs in the second inning and three more in the third to take an early 5-0 lead. However, the Vulcans struck for two runs in the fifth and a tally in the eighth to make things interesting.
"This was a strange game in that we dominated offensively and suddenly we were only up by two runs," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "We also struck out 15 of their hitters and generally you don't run into trouble when that happens. We had really good momentum at the beginning of the game, but we ran into trouble and they had it for the rest of the game after that."
Starting pitcher Tom Graham (Sr., Modesto, Calif.) turned in yet another impressive performance for the Bulldogs. Graham allowed three runs on nine hits and struck out a career-high 13 in 7.1 innings of work, a season high. He improved to 3-1 for the season. It was Graham's fourth quality start in his last five outings and he has struck 23 hitters in his last two starts. Hans Smith (Sr., Central Point, Ore.) relieved Graham with runners on first and second in the eighth and squelched the Vulcan rally. Smith shut out Hawai'i-Hilo over the final 1.2 innings to notch his second save of the season and the 10th of his career. He moved into a third-place tie on the career saves list with Shorty Farfan (1995).
"You have to hand it to Tom," Bennett said. "He settled down after giving up a couple of runs in the fifth and pitched very well tonight. He also had really good movement on his pitches. Then we brought in Hans and he came in and shut the door on them."
The Fresno State offense rapped out 13 hits off a pair of Vulcan pitchers, including five doubles. Shortstop Josh Labandeira (Jr., Porterville, Calif.) led the attack by going 4-for-5 with a run scored. The four hits were a career high for Labandeira. Right fielder Mike Bowlin (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) continued to swing a hot bat, going 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs. Third baseman Nick Garcia (Jr., Lakewood, Calif.) and center fielder Tony Guzman (Jr., Clovis, Calif.) each added two hits for the Bulldogs.
Lippert allowed five runs on seven hits in his 2.2 innings of work. His record dropped to 1-1 for the season. Joe Bell relieved Lippert in the third and tossed the final 5.1 innings in relief. Bell shut out the Bulldogs on six hits and struck out four.
The series continues tomorrow night at Pete Beiden Field. Fresno State will send left-hander Beau Hintz (So., Stockton, Calif.) to the mound. Hintz is 2-1 with a team-best 1.80 ERA in his three starts this season. Hawai'i-Hilo will counter with right-hander Kaholo Rickard (4-0, 0.79 ERA). First pitch at Beiden Field is scheduled for 7 p.m.
