UH’s Squier, Kuzminsky shine

New York Institute of Technology forced Scott Squier to be consistent in every inning he pitched on Saturday.

The Hawaii junior was up to the task in the first game of a doubleheader at Les Murakami Stadium, tossing a three-hit shutout in a 1-0 win.

The Rainbow Warriors haven’t allowed a run in the entire series after notching an 11-0 victory in the second game against the Bears (4-39).

Scott Kuzminsky (4-5) tossed his second nine-inning shutout of the season with a career-high 14 strikeouts, which are the most by any pitcher in Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso’s 13 years.

UH (18-25) has outscored NYIT 29-0 and clinched its fourth series win of the season in front of a crowd of 1,725.

It’s the first time Hawaii hasn’t allowed a run in three consecutive games since May 1991 against Utah.

"(Squier) was solid and gave us what we needed and there’s nothing you can say about Kuzminsky," Trapasso said. "Obviously that was the best outing he’s had."

NYIT had its best chance at a win when starter Jake Axley held the ‘Bows to one run on five hits in six innings of the first game scheduled for seven innings.

Squier (4-4), who lasted a season-low 21⁄3 innings in his last start, had to be flawless for Hawaii to avoid an embarrassing loss to a team ranked dead last in the country in RPI among Division I teams at 302.

He struck out seven and allowed only three hits in pitching at least seven innings for the eighth time in 12 outings.

"He gave us what we had to have obviously because anything other than that and we’re still playing," Trapasso said. "I think because of the way we scored and kind of handled them (Friday) night, we kind of felt in the back of our minds that we didn’t have to come out as focused as we should have and we almost paid the price."

Joshua Canabal threatened to score a run in the top of the seventh when he led off with a double inside the bag at third.

He advanced no farther as Squier got Nick Sebastian to ground out before recording back-to-back strikeouts to end it.

Austin Wobrock doubled and scored the only run of the game, and Kaeo Aliviado had two of Hawaii’s five hits.

The UH offense roared back to life in the second game, scoring double figures in runs for the fourth time this year and second time in the series.

Aliviado finished the day with five hits after going 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI in the nightcap.

Marc Flores was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs, and Stephen Ventimilia went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.

Kuzminsky threw 81 of his 99 pitches for strikes and scattered seven hits over nine innings to lower his ERA to 2.68.

"I knew I needed to hit my spots and keep the ball low and these guys would get themselves out," Kuzminsky said. "I had that one close inning and the defense made two great plays, so that was huge, too."

Robert Fiato hit a leadoff double in the top of the third and advanced to third on a single by Laurent Polenghi.

With one out, Joe Daru hit a ground ball to short that Wobrock picked cleanly and threw to home to get Fiato out by a step.

NYIT then tried a double steal, but Polenghi was thrown out at the plate as Wobrock collected his second assist at home in the inning.

UH clinched its fourth series win of the season and will attempt to notch its second four-game sweep in the finale on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

Freshman Gordon Cardenas (0-2, 5.06 ERA) will get the start.

FIRST GAME

HAWAII 1, NEW YORK INST. OF TECH 0

E–Young. DP–NYIT 1. LOB–NYIT 3; Hawaii 5. 2B–Canabal; Hurley; Wobrock. SF–Ventimilia. CS–Richartz.

Umpires–(Plate): Tom Chandler.. (First): Allen Williams. (Third): Gary Gilman. T–1:30. A–n/a.

SECOND GAME

HAWAII 11, NEW YORK INST. OF TECH 0

DP–NYIT 2. LOB–NYIT 6; Hawaii 10. 2B–Fiato; Ventimilia; Miller; Flores; Podratz. SB–Daru; Ventimilia. CS–Polenghi.

WP–Plotkin 2 HBP–by Plotkin (Flores). Umpires–(Plate): Allen Williams. (First): Gary Gilman. (Third): Tom Chandler. T–2:39. A–3,312.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

*includes one tie for overall record

Saturday
UC Davis 11, CS Northridge 3
UC Irvine 3, UC Santa Barbara 2
Long Beach State 5, CS Fullerton 0
Cal Poly 7, UC Riverside 5
*Hawaii 1, New York Institute of Technology 0
*Hawaii 11, New York Institute of Technology 0

Sunday
UC Davis at CS Northridge
UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine
CS Fullerton at Long Beach State
Cal Poly at UC Riverside
*New York Institute of Technology at Hawaii, 1 p.m.
*nonconference