Mesa, Ariz. — The ‘Bows stumbled Friday, falling 11-5 to Fresno State at the 2011 WAC Tournament. The Rainbows dropped their first game of the tournament and fall to 33-24 overall, while the Bulldogs (39-14) remain undefeated, states a release
Mesa, Ariz. — The ‘Bows stumbled Friday, falling 11-5 to Fresno State at the 2011 WAC Tournament. The Rainbows dropped their first game of the tournament and fall to 33-24 overall, while the Bulldogs (39-14) remain undefeated, states a release from the University of Hawai‘i athletic department.
Jarrett Arakawa (5-3) received the loss in his first postseason start. He pitched three complete innings allowing six runs on five hits. Josh Poytress (7-2) earned the win for the Bulldogs in five innings of work, allowing two runs on nine hits.
Kolten Wong had two hits and two RBIs for UH, which now plays today in an elimination game against Louisiana Tech. Pi‘ikea Kitamura posted one hit and two RBIs and Garrett Champion added two hits and two runs scored.
The damage was done early by the Bulldogs. After Arakawa walked the first two batters of the game, Dusty Robinson (2 for 5, two runs, three RBIs) crushed a home run over the left-center field wall to give FSU a 3-0 lead.
Fresno padded its lead one inning later. Kenny Wise (2 for 5, two runs, two RBIs) hit FSU’s second homer of the game, a two-run shot just inside the right field foul pole to increase the lead to 7-0.
The Rainbows finally got on the board when they plated two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. A pair of RBI singles by Kitamura and Wong helped UH cut into the deficit.
FSU added another run but the ‘Bows continued to chip away. In the eighth, Kitamura was issued a bases loaded walk and Wong drove home Jesse Moore, who scored twice in the game, from third to cut the Bulldog lead to 8-5.
However, FSU responded with three more runs to pull away.
First pitch between Hawai‘i and Louisiana Tech is set for 3 p.m. PT today (12 p.m. HT).