On a wet and miserable Friday night, the Hawaii baseball team was swinging in the rain.
The Rainbow Warriors amassed a season-high 16 hits, ousting UC Irvine ace Trevor Hansen in the fourth inning, en route to a 14-6 victory at Les Murakami Stadium.
A crowd of 1,224 saw the ’Bows score six runs in the fourth inning and four apiece in the fifth and seventh to take the opener of the three-game Big West series. The ’Bows also ended a nine-game losing streak to the Anteaters.
Right fielder Ben Zeigler-Namoa went 3-for-5 and drove home five runs with a sacrifice fly and two two-run doubles.
“I was just swinging the bat, man, being aggressive, seeing the pitches,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “It was a good day to play.”
Catcher Jake Redding and second baseman Kody Watanabe each had three hits. The ’Bows also scored three runs on a suicide squeeze and two safety bunts.
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Zeigler-Namoa said the ’Bows benefited from conducting a full practice during a downpour on Tuesday.
“I look at our preparation this week,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “We intrasquaded in this rain on Tuesday. It definitely gave us a little advantage there, in my opinion. I give credit to all the guys just grinding it out. It’s been a tough road for the offense, but it was good to see it tonight.”
UH coach Rich Hill said: “On Tuesday, I thought we came out and had a pretty good practice. I thought our guys were a little sluggish at first in the rain. They got the message that this is how it’s going to be this weekend. And it didn’t faze ’em. Hats off to our guys for showing toughness.”
The game matched two of the Big West’s best starting pitchers.
UH’s Isaiah Magdaleno, who entered with a 2.61 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, pitched four dramatic innings. Magdaleno did not allow a run or hit but walked seven of 18 batters. After walking the bases loaded with one out in the second inning, Magdaleno struck out the next two to quell the threat. In the third, Redding picked off UCI’s Zach Doyle at second base. In the fourth, Magdaleno stranded two Anteaters in scoring position.
Hansen entered with 62 strikeouts against 16 walks in his first eight starts. Hansen allowed one hit through three innings. But the Anteaters imploded in the ’Bows’ six-run fourth.
Zeigler-Namoa opened with a single to right and went to second when shortstop Zach Fjelstad mishandled Tate Shimao’s grounder. Josh Martin then singled to right to load the bases. Two outs later, Draven Nushida singled home Zeigler-Namoa. Shimao continued home on first baseman Alonso Reyes’ throwing error. Watanabe added a two-run single and Zeigler-Namoa drove in two more with a double.
“Coach (Dave) Nakama really prepares these guys,” Hill said of UH’s hitting coach. “We had a good plan going in. We we were really trying to get (Hansen) in the stretch (motion). He’s got that curveball. It’s a major league curveball. But our guys found a way to knock him out after 32⁄3, which is very difficult to do. Credit our offense and Coach Nakama for great preparation.”
In the UH fifth, pinch hitter Gabe Wright tripled home Redding from second. Wright then scored on a suicide squeeze when Watanabe placed a bunt single to extend the ’Bows’ advantage to 8-0.
“Same old, same old,” Wright said of pinch hitting. “Just gotta stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. I knew my name was going to be called at some point late in the game whether it’s defense or to (pinch) run. If I stay warm, I’m cool when I get in there.”
Kamana Nahaku’s RBI double and Zeigler-Namoa’s sacrifice made it 10-0.
In the seventh, Wright walked, went to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on Watanabe’s single, and scored on Taylor Takata’s bunt single.
Of his two dashes to the plate on bunts, Wright said, “just trusting Kody and Taylor to get (the bunts) down, and they did it both times. … Those might be the first two bunts we got down successfully (with a runner on third) in the last month. To score a run out of it definitely gives us confidence going into the next bunt situation.”
Zeigler-Namoa added a two-run double, and then scored on Shimao’s single for a 14-3 lead.
| BIG WEST BASEBALL STANDINGS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Conference | Overall | ||||
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W | L | |
| UC San Diego | 11 | 2 | .846 | — | 15 | 14 |
| Cal Poly | 10 | 5 | .667 | 2 | 18 | 14 |
| CS Fullerton | 10 | 6 | .625 | 2 ½ | 16 | 16 |
| UCSB | 8 | 5 | .615 | 3 | 20 | 11 |
| CS Northridge | 9 | 8 | .529 | 4 | 19 | 14 |
| UC Irvine | 6 | 7 | .462 | 5 | 15 | 18 |
| Hawaii | 7 | 9 | .438 | 5 ½ | 17 | 13 |
| CSU Bakersfield | 6 | 9 | .400 | 6 | 15 | 21 |
| UC Davis | 7 | 11 | .389 | 6 ½ | 15 | 18 |
| Long Beach St. | 5 | 11 | .312 | 7 ½ | 10 | 22 |
| UC Riverside | 4 | 10 | .286 | 7 ½ | 9 | 24 |
| SCHEDULE & RESULTS |
|---|
| Friday |
|
Hawaii 14, UC Irvine 6 UC San Diego 4, UC Santa Barbara 3 UC Davis 5, Cal State Bakersfield 3 Cal State Bakersfield 8, UC Davis 2 UC Riverside 3, Cal State Northridge 1 Cal State Fullerton 10, Long Beach St. 0 x-Oregon State 6, Cal Poly 3 |
| Today |
|
UC Irvine at Hawaii, 6:35 p.m. Cal State Northridge at UC Riverside UC San Diego at UC Santa Barbara Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State x-Cal Poly at Oregon State |
| Sunday |
|
UC Irvine at Hawaii, 1:05 p.m. Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State UC San Diego at UC Santa Barbara x-Cal Poly at Oregon State |
| x-non-conference game |
| HAWAII 14, UC IRVINE 6 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANTEATERS | |||||||
| PLAYER | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | LOB |
| Doyle, cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Carney, rf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Reyes, 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kim, ph/1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Fjelstad, ss | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gutierrez, 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Castagnl., ph/3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Felsch, lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Alvarez, 2b | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Schermer, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ortega, c | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Dietsch, c | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Polasek, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Gaz, ph/dh | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 34 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 12 |
| RAINBOW WARRIORS | |||||||
| PLAYER | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | LOB |
| Nahaku, cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Zeigl.-Namoa, rf | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Shimao, 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Martin, 1b | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Hoffman, dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Greco, pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Redding, c | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nushida, lf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Wright, ph/lf | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Watanabe, 2b | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Takata, s | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 38 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 8 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Irvine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | x | 14 | 16 | 1 |
| PITCHING & GAME NOTES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC IRVINE | ||||||
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Hansen (L, 4-3) | 3 2/3 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Grant | 2/3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Butler | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Castles | 1 2/3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| HAWAII | ||||||
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Magdaleno | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Garman | 1 2/3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Tomii (W, 2-0) | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Valdez | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
|
Records: Hawaii (17-13, 7-9 Big West), UC Irvine (15-18, 6-7 Big West) E—Fjelstad, Reyes, Martin. DP—UC Irvine 1, Hawaii 1. 2B—Gaz; Nahaku, Zeigler-Namoa 2, Redding. 3B—Redding, Wright. HR—Gaz. HBP—Felsch; Wright. SF—Zeigler-Namoa. CS—Shimao. WP—Butler, Castles, Hansen. HB—Castles; Tomii. Umpires—HP: Jason Venzon. 1B: Denver Dubreuil. 2B: Michael Chukerman. 3B: Gary Gilman. T—4:02. A—1,224. |
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