Pepperdine earns series split

Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso played it safe on Saturday, resting junior pitcher Jarrett Arakawa.

Pepperdine took full advantage, roughing up junior Eric Gleese for five runs in three innings to earn a series split with a 7-3 victory in front of a sold-out Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 3,161.

The Waves (8-3) took care of the Rainbow Warriors (6-6) in the allotted time before rushing to the airport to catch a 10:30 p.m. flight.

The game was played with a time limit where no new innings were to be played after 9 p.m.

It never became a problem, as junior Aaron Brown controlled the game both on the mound and at the plate.

The 6-foot-1 junior, who started the first three games of the series in center field, retired the first nine batters he faced before a Stephen Ventimilia infield single to start the fourth.

Brown gave up three runs in 72⁄3 innings with a season-high nine strikeouts.

"You really have to tip your hat to Brown because he was as good as we’ve seen and that was a power lefty slider he was throwing," Trapasso said. "He controlled our four lefties, which pretty much controlled our lineup."

A 17th-round draft pick in 2011 out of Chatsworth High in California, Brown showed off his entire skill set, adding three hits and two runs scored.

The big blow came with one out in the third, when the lefty went opposite field against Gleese, sending a home run over the fence in left-center to put the Waves up 5-0.

"We split four games coming into someone else’s house, so I think it was a good sign for us," Pepperdine coach Steve Rodriguez said. "We smashed some balls that just didn’t go any place here and I told our guys we had to rethink how we were approaching it because of the ballpark."

UH sophomore Juliene Jones had two hits, including a two-out RBI double in the eighth that chased Brown.

Ventimilia and Kaeo Aliviado each singled and scored for UH, which finished with six hits.

Hawaii committed its only two errors of the series.

The Rainbow Warriors used five pitchers, including Jones, who replaced freshman Bryce Ah Sam in the eighth.

Ah Sam allowed a run on a wild pitch and was taken out of the game immediately after feeling discomfort in his elbow.

"The rest of the guys after Gleese hung in there to keep us within striking distance, but we just didn’t have any kind of answer for Brown," Trapasso said. "He was bringing it. He’s a legit two-way guy."

Marcus Doi didn’t start for the sixth straight game but had a pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth.

He replaced designated hitter Jordan Richartz, who was hit by a pitch right on the ankle bone.

After playing 12 games in 16 days to start the season, UH will have five days off before opening its first road trip of the season at Texas on Friday.

Trapasso expects Doi to be back for the Texas series, and Arakawa should benefit from a full week off.

"It was not a tough decision, but it was a tough thing to do," Trapasso said of resting Arakawa. "From a competitive standpoint, it’s gut-wrenching because you always want to go out there and compete at full strength, but at the same time, we’re going to need Jordan DePonte, we’re going to need Eric Gleese, we’re going to need Josh Elms and it gave them a chance to go out there."

Elms allowed one run on two hits in two innings, and DePonte worked a scoreless sixth inning, giving up two hits.

Jones walked one and struck out one in 11⁄3 scoreless innings.

The Longhorns, ranked No. 15 by Baseball America, are 8-3 after wins over Rice and Houston so far this weekend at the Houston College Classic.

"We’re 6-6 and it could be better, could be worse, but we’re 6-6 and it’s been a grind," Trapasso said. "The one thing we have showed is we’re going to fight and scratch and claw every pitch of every game."

PEPPERDINE 7, HAWAII 3