UH gives Wichita State another shock

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Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson has been bringing teams to Hawaii for more than 30 years.

Never has the second all-time winningest coach in NCAA history felt as helpless here as he did on Saturday.

"I’ve done this for a long time and I feel so inept," he said. "I don’t have any answers right now. I’d try to give them to you if I had any."

None of the Shockers had an answer for Hawaii freshman Scott Squier, who baffled Wichita State over eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits in Hawaii’s 4-0 victory in front of a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,884.

The Rainbows (9-3) won their eighth in a row, matching their longest winning streak ever under head coach Mike Trapasso.

"We were able to get a crooked number and have it hold up because Scott was pumping strikes," Trapasso said. "He was able to move the ball around but keep it down and that was the key."

Wichita State (5-6) dropped a game below .500, losing three in a row for the second time this season.

Stephenson is now 21-21 all-time against Hawaii, losing six of his last seven here.

"This is a very expensive trip to come over here and embarrass ourselves, and that’s what it is," Stephenson said. "There’s nothing I can say that makes us look good … I don’t know. Maybe we’re not as good as we used to be. Maybe we’re just not competitive with Hawaii or anyone else."

To be fair, there aren’t many teams on Hawaii’s schedule that would have had success on Saturday against Squier (2-1), who hasn’t allowed a run in 14 innings since his UH debut against Oregon two weeks ago.

He faced three batters over the minimum in eight innings on Saturday, striking out seven and walking two.

"I went out and located my fastball and that was the big pitch for me today," Squier said.

Since giving up seven runs in 22⁄3 innings against the Ducks, the 6-foot-6 left-hander has allowed five hits in 14 innings, striking out 13.

"I can’t stress enough how impressed I am with his outing, considering who it came against," Trapasso said. "For us to go out there and shut them out, that’s quite a feat for Scott."

Not a single Shocker reached third base as Squier and Jesse Moore retired the final 16 batters of the game.

Johnny Coy had two of Wichita State’s three hits but was thrown out by Kaeo Aliviado to lead off the seventh trying to stretch a single into a double.

Wichita State had multiple baserunners once in the fourth before the Rainbows turned a double play to end the inning.

Moore replaced Squier in the ninth and set the Shockers down in order, striking out Ryan Hege to end the game.

UH’s eight-game winning streak is its second in as many years. Hawaii hasn’t won nine in a row since 1998.

"They got another lefty going (today) and hopefully we can drive in some runs and do the little things," said first baseman Max Duval, whose two-run double highlighted a four-run third for Hawaii.

The Rainbows took advantage of a passed ball that allowed catcher Cody Clark to reach first on a strikeout with one out in the third.

Singles by Stephen Ventimilia and Breland Almadova loaded the bases for Collin Bennett, who was 1-for-11 in his last four games before a two-run single between short and third put UH up 2-0.

Duval followed with a two-run double to center, giving UH all the offense it needed.

"We’re finding a way to get a hit here or there," Trapasso said. "We’re not doing a lot offensively, but because we’ve had good pitching, we’ve been able to win."

The Rainbows will go for their second consecutive series sweep today at 12:05 p.m. Freshman David Longville (1-0), who hasn’t allowed a run in 82⁄3 innings, will get the start but will be limited since he’s warmed up in the bullpen in each of the last two games.

The Shockers are expected to counter with 6-4 freshman Kris Gardner (2-0, 1.00 ERA).