Kamehameha product stops Hawaii

A Loyola Marymount pitcher’s homecoming was Hawaii’s home-wrecking Thursday night.

Codie Paiva, a 2015 Kamehameha graduate, pitched a four-hitter in the Lions’ 3-0 baseball victory before 956 at Les Murakami Stadium.

“The game was all about Codie,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said. “He was outstanding.”

Paiva, a junior, was making his third collegiate start, and first of this season. He entered with three relief appearances in 2018, none lasting longer than 51⁄3 innings. But in the opener of this four-game series, Paiva threw 86 pitches, including 64 for strikes. He walked one, struck out four and escaped three jams with runners in scoring position.

“They told me to take every inning one by one, as if it’s the ninth inning,” said Paiva, who mixed a 90-mph fastball, knee-bending change-up and slider. “I kept working counts to keep them off balance all night long. It worked out.”

Paiva drew inspiration from a section of family and friends, many wearing Hawaiian Lion T-shirts.

“Being away from home and having this type of crowd is amazing,” Paiva said. “They were with me all night.”

The Lions broke a scoreless tie in the top of the ninth inning. Nick Sogard reached second base when third baseman Ethan Lopez overthrew first baseman Eric Ramirez to open the inning. Niko Decolati followed with a double to right-center, but Sogard managed to only advance to third after going back to second to tag up. One out later, a ball-four pitch from Kyle Hatton that did not break bounced off catcher Chayce Ka‘aua’s mitt to the backstop, allowing Sogard to race home with the game’s first run.

“It was supposed to be a slider,” Ka‘aua said. “It didn’t do anything. It took off the other way. I didn’t have a grip on anything. I don’t know what happened.”

Later, Cooper Uhl hit a two-run single to extend the Lions’ lead to 3-0.

The ’Bows went down in order in the ninth. Paiva retired the final seven ’Bows he faced to improve to 1-2. LMU won in Hawaii for the first time since 1994, a span of 10 losses.

“We had opportunities,” Trapasso said. “We didn’t make anything of them. We were very anemic offensively. You have to credit Codie for keeping us off balance. We knew he was good. That’s why we recruited him.”

The ’Bows squandered Jackson Rees’ impressive performance. Rees allowed three hits — the first to open the seventh on his 73rd pitch of the game — and struck out a career-high eight in 71⁄3 innings. Because of a recurring problem with a nail on his right (pitching) hand, Rees relied mostly on a multi-purpose fastball.

“I was manipulating it to cut, to run,” Rees said. “It was my go-to.”

The ’Bows could not take advantage of scoring opportunities.

The ’Bows had runners at the corners with two outs in the second inning when Dustin Demeter struck out. Demeter entered hitting 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

In the UH fourth, it appeared the ’Bows scored the game’s first run when Ka‘aua beat a relay throw to first to avoid a double play as Lopez raced home from third. But the umpire ruled that Logan Pouelsen’s slide at second interfered with Sogard’s throw to first, resulting in a double play to end the inning.

“I thought I slid into the bag,” Pouelsen said. “Whatever. It’s his call. If he thought my legs were there, that’s how it is. You can’t go back.”

In the sixth, the ’Bows placed runners at first and second with two outs. But Johnny Weeks’ sizzling grounder was fielded by third baseman Brandon Shearer, who stepped on the bag for the third out.