Hawaii stumbles in 11-inning loss to San Francisco

In the chill of the night, San Francisco warmed up at the right time for a 3-1 victory over Hawaii at Les Murakami Stadium on Thursday.

A crowd of 943 saw the Dons score two runs in the top of the 11th inning to claim the opener of a four-game series.

The Rainbow Warriors (1-3) missed a chance to score the potential winning run when Josh Rojas stumbled while making the turn at third in the bottom of the 10th. Rojas was stranded, and then the Dons (4-1) seized the outcome in the 11th.

Michael Perri opened the 11th with a single to right field, then went to second when Rojas bobbled Ross Puskarich’s chopper to third. Perri and Puskarich advanced on Tyler Villaroman’s sacrifice. Casey Ryan then replaced reliever Matt Richardson for UH.

Aaron Ping followed with a single to right off Ryan, scoring Perri with the go-ahead run.

Ryan exited, replaced by Matt Estes, who threw a wild pitch, allowing Puskarich to score the insurance run.

The ’Bows tied it at 1-all with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Second baseman Johnny Weeks coaxed a walk against Joey Carney, the fourth USF pitcher. Rojas then pulled a ball into the right-field corner, scoring Weeks from first with a double.

Dylan Vchulek then singled to right field, but Rojas stumbled while making the turn at third and had to retreat to the bag. Vchulek went to second on the throw to the infield. Jordan LaFave, who entered as a defensive replacement at shortstop in the ninth, struck out as the teams went to the 11th tied at 1.

After both teams went scoreless in the first nine innings, San Francisco’s Allen Smoot hit an opposite-field double to left field to drive home Nico Giarratano for a 1-0 lead in the 10th.

UH starting pitcher Brendan Hornung pitched well again, but — again — received no run support. In eight innings, he threw 104 pitches, not allowing a run and striking out six. In two games this season, the ‘Bows have not scored a run in the 15 innings Hornung has pitched.

Hornung mixed drama with routine. He had four 1-2-3 innings. But in the second, he relinquished back-to-back one-out hits before striking out Manny Ramirez Jr. and Brady Bate.

In the fifth, Ramirez Jr. hit a one-out single to right. Pinch-runner Tyler Villaroman replaced Ramirez Jr., then went to second on Bate’s single to left. Harrison Bruce then hit a long drive that right-fielder Adam Vogel raced to catch. Matt Sinatro Jr. walked to load the bases but Hornung struck out Giarratano to end the threat.

In the seventh, Bate was hit by a pitch, then stole second, but Bruce flied out to deep center to end the inning.

Grant Goodman matched Hornung, relinquishing four hits in seven innings while striking out five. Goodman, who was drafted by the San Francisco Giants as a high-school senior, is two years removed from Tommy John surgery on his right (pitching) arm. But he showed grittiness, allowing only one baserunner in the first five innings and working out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh.

The teams meet today at 6:35 p.m.