A series win against UC Irvine will have to suffice.
Thoughts of a Hawaii sweep were gone by the time UH came to bat in Sunday’s series finale against the Anteaters at Les Murakami Stadium.
The first 12 UC Irvine hitters reached base in a 10-run inning propelling UCI to a 14-4 win over the Rainbow Warriors to salvage a game in the opening Big West Conference series for both teams.
A crowd of 1,292 watched UC Irvine’s entire starting lineup cross the plate in the highest scoring inning of the season for the Anteaters (16-9, 1-2), who finished with 19 hits.
Grant Palmer went 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs and Mitchell Holland was 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and two RBIs.
14
UC IRVINE
4
HAWAII
KEY: UC Irvine sends 15 batters to the plate in a 10-run first inning.
NEXT: Hawaii at UC Davis, 11:30 a.m. Friday
The only starter who failed to get at least two hits was the Big West’s leading hitter, Keston Hiura, who reached base for the 41st straight game and scored two runs, but had his 14-game hitting streak end.
“It shows how crazy the game is,” UC Irvine coach Mike Gillespie said. “A few balls found holes and it was good for us.”
Hawaii starter Alex Hatch (2-3) allowed four hits, a walk and hit a batter and failed to record an out.
Hatch had come in giving up two earned runs or fewer while lasting at least six innings in four of his past five starts.
“If you stay in this game long enough you’ll see things you’ve never seen before and I’ve never seen the first 10 guys reach base,” Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “Every ball they hit found a hole. Hatch has had two or three starts in a row where he’s had to feel his way through the first inning and then settles in but it was just one of those days he didn’t have anything at all.”
The loss only slightly dampened a strong opening weekend in conference play for Hawaii (13-15, 2-1), which won its first two games in four years against UC Irvine.
Matt LoCoco went 3-for-4 with a run and and RBI and the Rainbow Warriors had nine hits Sunday to finish with 34 in the series.
The 20 runs scored were the second-most ever at home for UH in the BWC.
“A good team came in here and we took two out of three from them, which is something to build on,” said LoCoco, who had six hits in the series to raise his average to .278. “I’m just trying to put up quality bats for us and guys behind me are going to drive me in so I’m just trying to get on base.”
Hawaii scored all four runs Sunday against UCI starter Cameron Bishop, who was knocked out of the game with one out in the second inning.
An error allowed Johnny Weeks, who drew a one-out walk, to score in the first inning.
LoCoco, Weeks and Jacob Sheldon-Collins strung together consecutive RBI singles in the second inning off of Bishop.
UCI’s starting pitchers combined to give up 14 runs in 111⁄3 innings.
“I wish it was,” Gillespie said when asked if it was an uncharacteristic weekend for his starters. “We’re fighting that problem and I don’t know if we’re going to be able to solve it.”
Mitchell Miller (2-0) threw four shutout innings to earn the win in relief and combined with three other relievers to hold UH scoreless over the final 72⁄3 innings.
Hawaii hit into four double plays to stall any further rally after cutting the deficit to 10-4.
Lawrence Chew put up four straight zeroes after giving up four runs in the first inning. Parker Coss’ two-run single in the sixth inning made it 12-4 and Palmer tripled home two runs in the eighth inning for the final margin.
This is the third time in four years Hawaii has started 2-1 in league play. In 2013, UH lost the next five and eight of the next nine while in ’14, the Rainbow Warriors lost eight straight following a series win over UC Santa Barbara.
Hawaii’s next three games are at UC Davis beginning Friday. UH is 7-2 against the Aggies in conference play and has swept them twice.
“Our guys were ready and fired up and now we’ve got to move on to Davis,” Trapasso said. “We won the first series and now you try to win the second series, which is on the road, and if you’re going to compete for the league, you’ve got to win on the road.”
BIG WEST BASEBALL
|
Conference |
|
|
|
Overall |
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
| CS Fullerton |
3 |
0 |
1.000 |
— |
16 |
11 |
| UCSB |
2 |
1 |
.667 |
1 |
20 |
6 |
| Hawaii |
2 |
1 |
.667 |
1 |
13 |
15 |
| UC Riverside |
2 |
1 |
.667 |
1 |
12 |
14 |
| Cal Poly |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
11⁄2 |
17 |
9 |
| UC Irvine |
1 |
2 |
.333 |
2 |
16 |
9 |
| Long Beach St. |
1 |
2 |
.333 |
2 |
17 |
10 |
| UC Davis |
1 |
2 |
.333 |
2 |
7 |
15 |
| CSUN |
0 |
3 |
.000 |
3 |
20 |
8 |
Sunday
UC Irvine 14, Hawaii 4
CS Fullerton 8, CSUN 5
Long Beach St. 2, UCSB 0
UC Davis 13, UC Riverside 12
*San Jose St. 9, Cal Poly 7
*-nonconference
Tuesday
*San Francisco at UC Davis
*UC Riverside at Loyola Marymount
*Long Beach St. at San Diego St.
*Cal Poly at Santa Clara
*CSUN at UCLA
*San Diego at CS Fullerton
*-nonconference
UC IRVINE 14, HAWAII 4
| ANTEATERS |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
BB |
SO |
| Kreuter 2b |
6 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Hiura cf |
5 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Brontsema ss |
6 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Holland 1b |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Alcantara rf |
4 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Palmer lf |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| Coss 3b |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
| Reitano c |
5 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| Hazard dh |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Castro ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Martinez ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| TOTALS |
45 |
14 |
19 |
14 |
1 |
4 |
| RAINBOW WARRIORS |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
BB |
SO |
| LoCoco cf |
4 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Linebarger ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Weeks 3b |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Sawelson ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Sheldon-Collins ss |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Ramirez 1b |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Doi lf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Ka‘aua dh |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Rios c |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Noworyta c |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Fitchett rf |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Baldwin ph/rf |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Rojas 2b |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Lopez ph/2b |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| TOTALS |
33 |
4 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
| UCI (16-9, 1-2) |
(10)00 |
002 |
|
020 |
|
— |
14 |
19 |
2 |
| Hawaii (13-15, 2-1) |
130 |
000 |
|
000 |
|
— |
4 |
9 |
0 |
E—Kreuter, Reitano. DP—UC Irvine 4. LOB—UC Irvine 7, Hawaii 8. 2B–Kreuter, Holland, Reitano, Ramirez. 3B–Palmer. HBP—Alcantara, Sheldon-Collins. SF–Holland. SB—Hazard, LoCoco. CI—Ramirez.
| UC IRVINE |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Bishop (W, 5-1) |
11⁄3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| Miller |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| Vargas |
12⁄3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Alvarez |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Bocko |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| HAWAII |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Hatch (L, 2-3) |
0 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
| Chew |
51⁄3 |
10 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
| Pigg |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| Friesen |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Valencia |
12⁄3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Hatch faced 6 batters in the 1st.
Friesen faced 2 batters in the 8th.
HBP—by Hatch (Alcantara), by Vargas (Sheldon-Collins). CI—Reitano.
Umpires—(Plate): Greg Charles. (First): Billy Haze. (Third): Darren Hyman. T—2:53. A—1,292.
