The wins have yet to come, but Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso is confident they will.
As long, he says, as his Rainbows continue to play like they did against Oregon.
"We’re going to be good when we pitch like we did today," Trapasso said Monday. "If we play over the next 50 games like we did today — like we played Saturday — we’re going to win more than our share in those next 50."
Nonetheless, the Rainbows will have to wait at least three more days before earning their first victory of the season after Oregon completed a four-game sweep of Hawaii with a 4-2 win Monday afternoon in front of a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 2,084.
J.J. Altobelli had three hits and drove in two runs for the Ducks (4-0), who jumped to No. 5 in two of the major college baseball polls released Monday.
Oregon ran its winning streak to seven against Hawaii, which is 0-4 for the first time since 2004.
The only bad news for the Ducks was losing starting pitcher Jeff Gold, who had to leave the game in the fifth inning after taking a hard-hit ball off the back of his left ankle. He had to be helped off the field by two teammates and fell one out short of qualifying for the win.
"My trainer said it’s just a bruise, but he’s had a history with bad ankles," Oregon coach George Horton said. "(Gold) said it hurt all over and not just in one specific spot, so we’ll see how it goes."
Five pitchers combined to hold Hawaii to seven hits. Closer Jimmie Sherfy pitched for the third straight game and topped out at 94 mph in earning his second save. Kaeo Aliviado drew a leadoff walk in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Kalei Hanawahine lined into a double play to end the game.
Aliviado hit a two-out RBI double in the sixth and Austin Wobrock went 3-for-3 with a double.
Wobrock, who made an over-the-shoulder diving catch of a ball in the eighth inning, was 0-for-7 at the plate before Monday’s finale.
"For me, I feel good because I felt like I was helping out the team and I didn’t think I was helping out the team much before," Wobrock said. "It’s a little disappointing and we see some flaws we have to work on, but it was a great game and (we) tip our caps to (Oregon)."
4 OREGON
2 HAWAII
KEY: Oregon’s J.J. Altobelli pesters UH pitching for three hits and two RBIs.
NEXT: UH vs. Rice, 6:35 p.m. Friday at Les Murakami Stadium
TV: OC Sports, Ch. 16
Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
|
Senior Corey MacDonald earned a second start this weekend against No. 13 Rice with a solid outing, shutting out the Ducks through the first four innings.
A leadoff walk led to three Oregon runs in the fifth, as Altobelli hit an RBI single and Brett Thomas drove in Altobelli with a two-out double.
Altobelli singled again in the sixth to score Kyle Garlick, who walked to start the inning.
MacDonald allowed seven hits and all four runs in 5 2/3 innings with four walks and three strikeouts.
"I was really excited to get back out there and be able to pitch again and get back into it," said MacDonald, who threw only 8 2/3 innings last season. "I struggled a little with the pitches I really needed to make in key situations."
Andrew Jones replaced MacDonald in the sixth and retired the first eight batters he faced, striking out four.
Altobelli got him for a single in the ninth and Jones had to leave the game with soreness in his elbow.
"I’m sitting there watching him throw, thinking this could be great because we could put (Quintin Torres-Costa) back in the bullpen and start Jones, which is what we brought him in here to do anyway," Trapasso said. "His arm has been off-and-on tender for six weeks and he saw a doctor who said he didn’t need an MRI, but it just hasn’t gotten better and we have to get him that MRI because he’s too important for us."
Trapasso said he was learning toward starting Scott Squier, Connor Little and MacDonald in the first three games this weekend against Rice, which took two of three against Stanford to jump into the Collegiate Baseball top 10.
Fourteen of Hawaii’s 17 full-time position players played against Oregon, along with 10 of 16 pitchers.
All five batters who hit .300 or better against the Ducks are newcomers, including infielder Jerry Kleman, who hit .417 (5-for-12) in the series.
NO. 6 OREGON 4, HAWAII 2 |
Oregon |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Payne 2b |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Real 2b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Heineman cf |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Wobrock ss |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
Thomas lf |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Kitamura 3b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Healy 1b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Flores dh |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Hambright 3b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
George ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Garlick dh |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Hurley lf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Packard rf |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Kleman 1b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Hofmann rf |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Aliviado rf |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Chase c |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Podratz c |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Altobelli ss |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
Hanawhne cf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Totals |
33 |
4 |
8 |
4 |
Totals |
32 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
Oregon (4-0) |
|
000 |
031 |
000 |
– |
4 |
8 |
0 |
Hawaii (0-4) |
|
100 |
001 |
000 |
— |
2 |
7 |
0 |
DP—Oregon 1. LOB—Oregon 8; Hawaii 7. 2B—Thomas, Packard, Chase; Wobrock; Aliviado. SH—Wobrock. SF—Payne. SB—Altobelli. |
|
Oregon |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
Gold |
42⁄3 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Spencer (W, 1-0) |
12⁄3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Hunter |
2⁄3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Jones |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Sherfy (S, 2) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
MacDonald (L, 0-1) |
52⁄3 |
7 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
Jones |
22⁄3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Flinn |
2⁄3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
WP—MacDonald. Umpires—William VanRaaphorst (home); Dan Ignosci (first base); Carl Coles(third base). T—3:33. A—2,084. |