A day of firsts for UH pitcher Pouelsen

“Never” was the baseball-jeopardy answer to the question: When did Hawaii pitcher Logan Pouelsen last throw a shutout?

“This was my first shutout, my first (complete game), my first everything,” Pouelsen said after pitching a four-hitter in the ’Bows’ 4-0 victory over Loyola Marymount at Les Murakami Stadium.

A Sunday matinee crowd of 1,443 saw Pouelsen mystify the Lions with a 90-mph fastball, change-up, curve and slider. Pouelsen struck out five and walked none. He retired the final 10 Lions in order to improve to 2-0. The ’Bows and Lions split the four-game series.

“It was like back in high school,” catcher Tyler Murray said of his Huntington Beach (Calif.) High alumnus. “It was super fun. We worked really well together. It was good to see him go all nine.”

Pouelsen was a reliever until his junior year at Huntington, when he brought his 95-mph fastball to the starting rotation. “Every time, I would go out and try to throw as hard as I could because I knew people couldn’t catch up to it,” Pouelsen said of his prep days.

But he suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery during his senior year. In 2017, his first year at UH, he split time as a first baseman and designated hitter. His strong outings in fall training earned Pouelsen a spot in the pitching rotation.

In the first three innings on Sunday, Pouelsen threw 45 pitches, relying mostly on fastballs and change-ups. After that, he blended curves into early count pitches.

“Playing D-I college baseball, you have to make your arm last a little bit, locate, throw to contact and let my defense help me,” Pouelsen said.

Pouelsen also used his quickness to field two grounders. “He was our starting third baseman in high school,” Murray said of Pouelsen. “He was good from left to right. He still has that agility in him.”

At 6 feet 1 and 240 pounds, Pouelsen has “dad bod” scribbled on the underside of his cap’s bill. “All these guys have six packs,” Pouelsen said, smiling. “I don’t need a six pack. I’ve got a dad bod.”

He added: “I try to cover my position as much as I can, and make it a lot easier on the infielders. They’re taking hard ground balls. Anything around me, I’m going to try to get. That’s what I did.”

Left fielder Johnny Weeks, who is batting .115, contributed to the ’Bows’ early 2-0 lead.

After Dylan Vchulek reached second on a two-base error by LMU shortstop Niko Decolati in the first inning, the right-swinging Weeks grounded to second. Vchulek went to third, then scored on Adam Fogel’s RBI groundout.

In UH’s three-run third, Weeks’ safety squeeze near the first-base line brought home Troy Kakugawa.

“I know I’ve been struggling a little bit, but that’s just baseball,” Weeks said. “Whenever I get opportunities now, I’ll do anything to help the team win. Lately, I’ve been moving guys over. I’ll do anything to drive them in — sac bunts, safety squeeze, whatever it takes.”

Trapasso said Weeks “really executed early. That’s what you’re going to get with Johnny. You can’t look at the stats. The first two at-bats, he’s (without a hit). But he’s the reason we scored in both those innings. … He’s coming back.”

The ’Bows missed chances to widen their advantage after stranding eight runners in the fourth through sixth innings.

“We can’t do that,” Trapasso said. “You can’t assume when we get a four-run lead, the game’s over. You can’t assume anything in college baseball. We have to continue to keep the pedal to the metal and separate yourself.”

But Trapasso was pleased with the starting pitching. Pouelsen, Jackson Rees, Dominic DeMiero and Neil Uskali allowed one earned run in 301⁄3 innings this series. The ’Bows’ overall ERA is 1.74 this season.