Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Hawaii
Baseball's Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short
4/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 15, 2000
HONOLULU - No. 18 Fresno State rallied for four unearned runs in the ninth, but it was not enough as Hawai'i picked up an 8-7 victory on Saturday afternoon at Rainbow Stadium. The Bulldogs saw their record drop to 28-11 overall and 10-6 in the WAC with the loss, while the Rainbows broke a four-game losing streak and improved to 22-20 overall and 9-7 in conference play.
Fresno State jumped on Hawai'i starting pitcher Jamie Aloy for three runs on four hits in the top of the first inning to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. The Rainbows took the lead with four runs in the fourth off Bulldog starter Tom Graham (Sr., Modesto, Calif.) and four more in the sixth against reliever Mike Hernandez (Fr., Fresno, Calif.). However, Fresno State fought back to make things interesting in its final at bat. The Bulldogs plated four runs on four hits and one Rainbow error to pull within one, but Anthony Acevedo (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.) flew out to left field to end the game.
"It was one of those games when we didn't do a good job on the mound," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "They got clutch hits and we didn't. We had plenty of opportunities and couldn't take advantage of them. We had Aloy on the ropes for most of the game and could not knock him out."
Graham allowed four runs on five hits and walked three in his 3.2 innings of work. Graham struck out two and saw his record drop to 5-4 for the season. Hernandez relieved Ben Fritz (Fr., San Jose, Calif.) in the fourth and allowed four runs on three hits in 1.2 innings pitched. Zach Minor (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.) relieved Hernandez in the sixth and shut out Hawai'i on one hit over the final 2.2 innings.
The Bulldog offense registered 11 hits on the day but stranded a season-high 14 baserunners. Josh Labandeira (Jr., Porterville, Calif.) paced the attack by going 3-for-6 with a triple and three RBIs. Leadoff hitter Tom Creighton (So., Weldon, Calif.) was 2-for-5 with a run scored and one RBI. Creighton reached base for the 28th consecutive game by either hit, walk or hit by pitch and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games. Brandon Gemoll (So., San Jose, Calif.) went 2-for-4 with a run scored and extended his hitting streak to a career-best nine games. It was Gemoll's team-leading 21st multi-hit game of the season. Nick Garcia (Jr., Lakewood, Calif.) added a pair of hits and scored two runs for the Bulldogs.
Aloy allowed three runs on six hits to pick up the victory. He walked five and struck out two in improving to 6-3 for the season. Gavin Garrick allowed two unearned runs on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning. Sean Yamashita finished the game for the Rainbows, as he allowed a pair of unearned runs on two hits in the ninth.
The series continues on Sunday afternoon at Rainbow Stadium. Shawn Hannah (Sr., Clovis, Calif.) is slated to start for the Bulldogs. Hannah will bring a 5-2 record and 3.41 ERA into the contest. He will be opposed by Hawai'i left-hander Randon Ho (5-5, 4.64 ERA). The game is scheduled to get underway at 6:05 p.m. (PDT) and can be heard via the Internet at www.broadcast.com.
