Hawaii baseball opens conference play with road victory
Mar. 16—The Hawaii baseball team's first out-of-state and Big West Conference game of the season was a success Friday thanks to a pitcher making his first start of the season.
The Hawaii baseball team's first out-of-state and Big West Conference game of the season was a success Friday thanks to a pitcher making his first start of the season.
Alex Giroux allowed four hits with two walks and three strikeouts over 72 /3 innings as Hawaii beat CSU Bakersfield 2-0 in Bakersfield, Calif.
"He's really been stepping it up, " Hawaii coach Rich Hill said. "We made the change early in the week. Alex has been getting better and better in his time at UH."
Giroux, a junior right-hander, threw 108 pitches and was removed with runners at first and second and two outs in the eighth.
Itsuki Takemoto came on and recorded a three-pitch strikeout to end the inning. He put two on in the ninth, but escaped for his fourth save.
The Rainbow Warriors (11-6 ) have won six of their past seven. Hawaii's only road game came Feb. 28, a 15-2 victory at Hawaii Hilo.
"It's been a team effort. Something different every game. The team finds a way to win, " Hill said.
Giroux, a sinker /slider pitcher, had made six relief appearances with a 4.24 ERA over 17 innings. He threw 32 /3 innings and 58 pitches in his previous outing March 8 against Rice, for his longest outing and most pitches thrown this season.
Hill said he didn't implement a pitch count for Giroux, and his decision to remove him would come down to "if he looked tired or not."
Prior to the eighth, the only trouble Giroux (3-0 ) got into came in the third when the Roadrunners (3-15 ) had two runners on and one out. He got a flyout and a groundout to end the threat.
The Rainbow Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the first on Jake Tsukada's two-out single off the second baseman's glove that scored Austin Machado.
UH went up 2-0 in the fourth on Stone Miyao's single to left that scored Tsukada, who reached on a bunt single, advanced to second on an errant throw by the pitcher and reached third on a balk.
The Rainbow Warriors had two runners in scoring position and one out in the seventh, but Roadrunners starter Ryan Verdugo got a strikeout and a groundout to escape the jam.
Verdugo allowed seven hits over seven innings with two walks and seven strikeouts for CSU Bakersfield.
"Give credit to Verdugo, " Hill said. "There were a lot of scouts in the stands. We had eight (total ) hits, but we hit the ball hard all night. He got in a groove in the middle of the game. We swung the bat OK, better than it looked."
In the ninth, CSU Bakersfield had runners at first and second with one out, but Takemoto got a flyout and a swinging strike three to end it.
"He's pitched in front of 40, 000 people with a lot on the line (in the Japan national high school tournament ). Nothing is going to faze him, " Hill said. "He's always asking me to put him in. He wants more and more."
The three-game series continues today at 10 a.m. The Rainbow Warriors will start left-hander Randy Abshier, the reigning Big West Pitcher of the Week.
The series finale Sunday also will be at 10 a.m.
