Held hitless in his first nine games, Matt Harrison had two singles and scored three runs to lead Hawaii to a 9-7 victory over Loyola Marymount yesterday at Page Stadium in Los Angeles.

Harrison scored the tying run in the eighth on a two-out single by Jeff Van Doornum, who had two hits and drove in two runs.

Michael Blake hit the go-ahead RBI single and a throwing error allowed the Rainbows to score three in the eighth and take a 9-7 lead.

Hawaii, which erased a 5-0 deficit, evened its record at 5-5. The Lions dropped to 8-4.

"We feel like that could be a signature win for us as far as us getting it going," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "We battled, we didn’t lose faith when we were down and we played really good defensively."

The Rainbows pounded out 11 hits and committed no errors for the second consecutive game.

Zack Swasey had three hits, extending his hitting streak to nine games. He also stole two bases. Sean Montplaisir, who reached base four times, went 1-for-2 and scored a run.

The Lions jumped on Hawaii starter Alex Capaul for seven hits and five runs before Capaul was pulled with one out in the fourth.

Bret Dahlson chased Capaul with a two-run double that gave Loyola Marymout its 5-0 lead.

Randy Yard, two years removed from shoulder surgery, made his first appearance in a UH uniform. He allowed three hits and two runs in two innings, walking none and striking out three.

Lions starter Martin Viramontes stumbled in the fifth, walking Harrison and Pi’ikea Kitamura and hitting Kolten Wong with a pitch to load the bases. An error by the shortstop allowed two runs to score and Van Doornum made it 5-3 with an an RBI single.

Blake hit a sinking line drive for a sacrifice fly, but Montplaisir was called out at second for not tagging up.

"I thought (the outfielder) trapped it, but they said it was a catch," Trapasso said. "Monty said he went and tagged and one umpire said he did, one said he didn’t. That was a situation where we got two outs and we felt like we didn’t deserve any."

After the Rainbows tied the game at 6, Joe Vierra hit a solo homer off Yard leading off the seventh.

Blair Walters (3-1) allowed one hit in 2 2/3 scoreless innings to allow UH to retake the lead. Lenny Linsky pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his third save and second in two days.

"I’m telling you, Loyola is a really good team," Trapasso said. "They are a scrappy bunch and battled, but once we got the lead we were able to put three zeroes with our bullpen, which was the difference."

Ryan Hawthorne (0-1) allowed two hits and two runs in an inning, taking the loss. Leadoff hitter Matt Lowenstein went 0-for-5 to end his hitting streak at 10 games.

Sophomore Zac Fujimoto, a 2008 Maryknoll graduate, started in center field for the Lions and finished 1-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI before he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the eighth.

Hawaii will start right-hander Jesse Moore (0-1, 2.16 ERA) in today’s game as the ‘Bows try to win the series. Their road trip concludes tomorrow with a game at Long Beach State. First pitch is at 4:30 p.m.