BaseBows roll past Waves

It took Hawaii a little over three innings to figure out Pepperdine starter Jackson McClelland.

Once it did, McClelland and the Waves had absolutely no chance.

Seven straight UH hitters reached base with two outs in the fourth inning as Hawaii put up a five-spot in an inning for the first time in more than a year to defeat Pepperdine 6-1 on Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium.

Jordan Richartz went 2-for-3 with two runs and a stolen base and Juliene Jones singled and scored to extend his hitting streak to seven and help give Hawaii (6-5) a 2-1 series lead against the Waves (7-3).

"We had one of those great contagious innings that you always hope for," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "It’s a good three games against a good team and now we’ve got to come out (Saturday) and play well."

Hawaii will go for its seventh win in eight games without junior Jarrett Arakawa, who won’t make his scheduled start on Saturday.

Arakawa is coming back from a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the entire 2012 season. He pitched four innings against Oregon and six more last week against Albany, giving up nine hits and two earned runs total.

"It’s 100 percent precautionary and it’s another reason why I thought this was a big game for us," Trapasso said. "He’s been just a little tender and he could go, he wants to go, if it were conference, he would go, but we’re at the point where we can be cautious and allow him to skip a start here and there."

The Rainbow Warriors left a crowd of 2,278 buzzing on Friday night after stringing together five straight blistering hits off McClelland (2-1), who had faced the minimum over 3 2/3 innings.

He failed to record another out and was chased after Austin Wobrock ripped an 0-2 offering back up the box to score Trevor Podratz for a 4-1 lead.

Conner George beat out an infield single to score Adam Hurley and give Hawaii its first five-run inning since Feb. 24, 2013, against Rice a span of 55 games.

"We were hitting balls hard the first couple of innings that weren’t falling and then we started figuring out his timing," Richartz said. "Seeds up the middle, balls in the gaps, everyone was hitting."

Marc Flores drew a four-pitch walk with two outs in the fourth when Hawaii suddenly teed off against McClelland, who had allowed 10 hits in his first 16 innings this season.

Jones ripped a single to center to extend his hitting streak to seven and Richartz drilled a double to the wall in right-center, scoring two.

Podratz, getting the start at catcher, hit a bullet to left to score Richartz, and Hurley followed with a laser to right, setting up Wobrock’s hit that chased McClelland.

"They were all line drives, all to the middle for the most part, all with two outs and that was most impressive," Trapasso said. "That got us going because we were down a run with two outs and then it started with the two-out walk."

The inning got the attention of Hawaii starter Scott Kuzminsky, who didn’t let the Waves get any momentum back in the game.

The senior right-hander, who gave up one run on five hits through four innings, retired eight in a row after UH took the lead, giving up a meaningless two-out single to Chris Fornaci in the seventh.

Kuzminsky (1-1) was done after seven solid innings, allowing the one run on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

"I was struggling with my offspeed early on and after we put up five, I knew I had a lead, so I pitched with it and tried to get ahead of guys and make contact," Kuzminsky said. "My whole game plan is to get ahead and pitch to contact and then I have a defense behind me making great plays."

UH still hasn’t committed an error in the series and has allowed only three runs and three walks in 29 innings against Pepperdine.

E—Yamaguchi. LOB—Pepperdine 8, Hawaii 4. 2B—Moyer 2; Anderson; Richartz. SB—Richartz. CS—Wobrock.

WP—Blanchard, Puckett. HBP—by Kuzminsky (Anderson); by Blanchard (Richartz). BK—Blanchard. Umpires—(Plate): Greg Charles. (First): Jeff Henrichs. (Third): Billy Haze. T—2:40. A—2,278.