Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Hawaii Hilo
Hannah Tosses First Career Shutout For No. 17 Bulldogs
4/22/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 21, 2000
HILO, Hawaii - No. 17 Fresno State rode the right arm of starting pitcher Shawn Hannah (Sr., Clovis, Calif.) to an 8-0 victory against Hawai'i-Hilo on Friday night at Wong Stadium. Hannah surrendered only five hits and tossed the first shutout of his two-year career. The Bulldogs improved to 32-11 overall and moved into sole possession of first place in the WAC at 14-6 (San Jose State lost to TCU on Friday, 7-5). The Vulcans lost their sixth consecutive game and dropped to 14-28 overall and 5-18 in conference play.
Hannah tossed his second consecutive complete game and improved to 7-2 for the season. He walked only one and struck out eight in the 132-pitch gem. It was Hannah's seventh quality start of the year.
Fresno State scored a run in the second and two in the second on Anthony Acevedo's (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.) team-leading seventh home run of the season to take an early 3-0 lead. The Bulldogs added two runs in the seventh and three in the ninth to complete their third shutout of the season.
"First of all, Hannah pitched a very good ballgame for us," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "That was his second solid performance of the week. This was probably the best command he has had all season, although he had pretty good control against Hawai'i the other night."
Fresno State continued to get production throughout the lineup, as seven of the nine starters had at least one hit. Acevedo led the way by going 1-for-3 with the two-run homer and four RBIs. Brandon Gemoll (So., San Jose, Calif.) was 2-for-5 with a double and extended his career-high hitting streak to 13 games. Gemoll, who now is hitting .402, has hit safely in 20 of the past 21 games. Tom Creighton (So., Weldon, Calif.) walked to lead off the game and reached base by either hit, walk or hit by pitch in the 32nd consecutive contest. Creighton also had a bunt single in the ninth to extend his career-best hitting streak to 14 games. It is the longest hitting streak by a Bulldog since Josh Hannah hit safely in a school-record 38 consecutive games from Feb. 26, 1997-Jan. 30, 1998. Josh Labandeira (Jr., Porterville, Calif.) went 2-for-3 with two walks, a pair of runs scored and two RBIs.
"I was pleased with the hitting again," Bennett said. "We had several timely hits tonight. I also thought out defense was outstanding. We made several great plays on a rough field."
Thomas Ford picked up the loss for Hawai'i-Hilo. Ford allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and walked five in eight innings pitched. He struck out four and saw his record drop to 4-5 for the season. Robert Shimabuku allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits in the final frame for the Vulcans.
The series concludes on the west side of the big island on Saturday afternoon in Kailua-Kona. Left-hander Beau Hintz (So., Stockton, Calif.) is slated to make his ninth start of the season for the Bulldogs. Hintz is 4-3 with a 3.27 ERA. Hawai'i-Hilo will counter will right-hander Kaholo Rickard (4-5, 3.21 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. (PDT) at Kailua-Kona Baseball Field.
