When the calendar flipped from March to April, the Hawaii baseball team had won seven of nine and was coming off a series win on the road at UC Santa Barbara.
Now, after losing 12 of 13 and with no Big West tournament to look forward to, the calendar will flip from April to May with pride the only thing the Rainbow Warriors have left to play for.
Hawaii (15-25, 3-12) sits in a tie with UC Davis for last place in the conference after suffering yet another one-run loss.
Playing in its third extra-inning game this week, Cal State Fullerton walked off with a 2-1 win on Sunday night when Jared Deacon squeezed home Austin Diemer with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, Calif.
The Titans (21-17, 6-6) ended a six-game losing streak with a series sweep of the Rainbow Warriors, who have been swept in three of their past four series.
2 FULLERTON
1 HAWAII
NEXT: UH vs. New York Institute of Technology, 6:35 p.m. Friday at Les Murakami Stadium
|
Hawaii’s 1-12 record in the month of April includes six one-run losses. The biggest reason for the slide is an offense that has been held to two runs or less in seven of those 13 games and scored more than four runs only twice.
"It’s been the story of the month where we haven’t been able to find a way," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "We pitched our tails off on Friday and (Sunday) and we weren’t able to get any runs across, but you’ve got to remember that we faced probably the best pitching staff in the country and it’s not easy, but you’ve got to find a way."
UH got a boost from the return of junior Jarrett Arakawa, who pitched for the first time since recording only one out in a loss to UC Irvine on April 6.
The soft-tossing left-hander gave UH 42⁄3 quality innings, allowing only one run on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
Senior Scott Kuzminsky (3-5) was saddled with the loss despite giving Hawaii every chance to come away with a win.
Kuzminsky went 52⁄3 innings, allowing five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
"He pitched great and he’s done that all year," Trapasso said. "He might be the unsung hero of the staff because he comes out in any role and does his job and pitches well."
The only run Kuzminsky allowed came in the 11th when Diemer was hit by a pitch, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt.
Deacon, who came in to catch as a defensive replacement, pushed a bunt up the third-base side of the mound that scored Diemer easily as Fullerton celebrated its second walk-off win of the series in extra innings.
Cal State Fullerton starter Grahamm Wiest was the second Titans pitcher to throw 10 innings in the series, allowing one run on four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Reliever Koby Gauna (2-2) got the win after allowing a one-out single to Trevor Podratz in the top of the 11th.
UH second baseman Stephen Ventimilia, who singled and scored in the fourth, reached on an error at second base, putting runners on first and second with one out for Kaeo Aliviado, who had his consecutive-games streak of reaching base end at 23.
Aliviado, who had struck out only 10 times in 161 at-bats coming in, was punched out for the second time in the game. Ventimilia was caught in a rundown between first and second on the play and was tagged out as Hawaii ran itself out of the inning.
"It was a big mistake by Stephen, who I feel bad for, but you can’t get caught there as the trail runner with the three-hole hitter coming up," Trapasso said. "Now (Marc) Flores might not get the hit, but you’ve got to at least give him a chance."
Flores, who drove in Ventimilia with a single in the fourth, finished with two of UH’s five hits.
Hawaii returns home on Monday, with 10 of its final 13 games to be played at Les Murakami Stadium, beginning with a four-game nonconference series against New York Institute of Technology on Friday.
"As strange as it may sound, I think Friday and (Sunday’s) games could be something that sparks our guys because of the fact that they played that well at Cal State Fullerton," Trapasso said. "To come back from (Saturday) night and pitch and play as well as we did I think is going to springboard our kids. We’re going to finish strong."
Hawaii would need to win 12 of its final 13 games to finish with a winning record.
CAL STATE FULLERTON 2, HAWAII 1, 11 INN.
UH |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
CSF |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Ventimilia 2b |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Stieb lf |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Aliviado cf |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Pinkston 1b |
5 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
Flores 1b |
4 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
Vidales pr |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Miller rf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Richards ss |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Hurley lf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Chapman 3b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Richartz dh |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Davis dh |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Jones 3b |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Dale ss/1b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Wobrock ss |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Diemer rf |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Young c |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Williamson cf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Podratz ph/c |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Kennedy c |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
George pr |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
O-Barrera ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Pollakov c |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Deacon c |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Bryant 2b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Totals |
38 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
Totals |
36 |
2 |
10 |
2 |
HAWAII (15-25, 3-12 BWC) |
000 |
100 |
000 |
00 |
— |
1 |
5 |
1 |
CSF (21-17, 6-6 BWC) |
001 |
000 |
000 |
01 |
— |
2 |
10 |
2 |
Note: 1 out, 1 runner left on base when the game ended
E—Flores; Richards; Kale. LOB—Hawaii 4; CSF 11. 2B—Pinkston. HBP—Diemer. SH—Dale; Diemer; Williamson; Kennedy. SB—Ventimilia; Pinkston; Dale; Diemer; Bryant. CS—Ventimilia.
HAWAII |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
Arakawa |
42⁄3 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Kuzminsky (L, 3-5) |
52⁄3 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
CS FULLERTON |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
Wiest |
10 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
Gauna (W, 2-2) |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
WP—Kuzminsky 2. HBP—by Kuzminsky (Diemer)
Umpires—(Plate): Bill Barnes. (First): Dwayne Finley. (Third): Don Crane. T—2:46. A—1,497.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
|
Conference |
|
|
|
Overall |
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
UC Irvine |
11 |
1 |
.917 |
— |
28 |
14 |
Cal Poly |
12 |
3 |
.800 |
11⁄2 |
36 |
7 |
Long Beach State |
7 |
5 |
.583 |
4 |
20 |
21 |
UC Riverside |
7 |
5 |
.583 |
4 |
18 |
21 |
CS Fullerton |
6 |
6 |
.500 |
5 |
21 |
17 |
UCSB |
7 |
8 |
.467 |
51⁄2 |
26 |
11 |
CS Northridge |
4 |
8 |
.333 |
7 |
15 |
28 |
UC Davis |
3 |
12 |
.200 |
91⁄2 |
17 |
23 |
Hawaii |
3 |
12 |
.200 |
91⁄2 |
15 |
25 |
Sunday
CS Fullerton 2, Hawaii 1, 11 innings
UC Riverside 7, UC Santa Barbara 3
Long Beach State 1, Cal Poly 0
UC Irvine 3, UC Davis 1
*TCU 3, CS Northridge 0
*nonconference
Tuesday
*Cal Poly at Pepperdine
*UCLA at UC Santa Barbara
*UNLV at UC Riverside
*CS Northridge at CSU Bakersfield
*UC Irvine at USC
*San Diego at CS Fullerton
*nonconference