Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Hawai'i*
Romero Leads Bulldogs Past Hawai'i
4/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 8, 2006
Fresno, Calif. - Playing in front of the television cameras for the first time on the year, the Bulldogs responded with one of their most complete efforts in a 6-1 win against Hawai'i Saturday night. Junior Eddie Romero pitched 6.2 innings, giving up just six hits and one run on the way to his eighth win of the year, cruising after the Bulldogs put up five runs to stake an early lead.
Hawai'i led off the game with a hit, as Robbie Wilder singled down the left field line, justifying a questionable start after being hit in batting practice. The Bulldogs quickly shut down the potential big inning with a tailor-made ground ball to second baseman Erik Wetzel and Romero closed out the inning with another ground ball out to Luis Avila.
The Bulldogs took advantage of their chance for an early big inning in the first. Steve Susdorf, batting second for a change, singled to left to begin the rally with one out, and after moving to second on a wild pitch, scored on a RBI double from Beau Mills continuing the inning with a double just past rightfielder Matt Inouye's glove. Following that sequence, Christian Vitters came through with another clutch hit, driving in two runs on a double to put the Bulldogs ahead 3-0.
Erik Wetzel sparked another one-out rally in the second inning with a single and a stolen base, which was followed up by a walk from Loren Storey to put two runners on. A ground out by Susdorf moved the runners over, and Sakamoto singled in two runs with his second hit of the game, putting the Bulldogs ahead 5-0.
Hawai'i picked up their run in the third inning, capitalizing on a leadoff double from Joe Spiers. Spiers used some smart baserunning to steal third base, and was able to score on a ground out to short from Wilder.
After putting up five quick runs off of Hawai'i starter Justin Costi, Rainbow coach Mike Trapasso went to the bullpen with Tyler Davis, who covered the rest of the game for the Rainbows in solid form, throwing six innings, allowing three hits. One of those hits was a long one, as Ozzie Lewis slammed his third home run in two weeks over the right field fence to tally the final score.
The Bulldog bullpen proved to be even more efficient than the Rainbow bullpen, taking over from Eddie Romero after the Junior left in the seventh, having thrown 116 pitches over 6.2 innings, giving up six hits and the one run. Brandon Burke closed out the inning with a one pitch flyout, moved through a hitless eighth, and Holden Sprague set down the side in order in the ninth to close out the win for the Bulldogs.
The two teams meet one more time tomorrow in the rubber game. Andy Underwood takes the mound for the Bulldogs, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
