With the way Hawaii swung the bats on Saturday, the regular season can’t start soon enough.
The Rainbows scored all of their runs in the first three innings, getting five hits from Breland Almadova in a 13-1 victory over a group of 18 former UH players in the annual alumni game at Les Murakami Stadium.
UH wasn’t kind to former pitchers Mark Rodrigues and Harrison Kuroda, putting up seven runs in the second and five more in the third for a commanding lead.
Designated hitter AJ Bayus doubled twice in the second inning as UH sent 11 batters to the plate. Collin Bennett singled twice and drove in three runs and first baseman Max Duval went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.
"I was pretty happy with our overall focus even after the second inning when we put up a big lead," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "I thought our guys stayed focused for the most part throughout, but overall (Matt) Sisto got his work in, we got some good swings, and we got to have a lot of fun."
Lenny Linsky served as de facto head coach for the alumni team and was involved in a rare triple play in the eighth inning.
Former UH All-American Kolten Wong took a groundball to third to start the 5-4-3 triple play, which Linsky turned at second base in his only inning played in the field.
"We called it," Linsky said. "Right when they hit that ball to Kolten, I was like, ‘Damn, I’ve got to run to second base.’ It felt like forever."
Linsky entertained a crowd of 510 throughout the eight-inning game. At one point, he ran out to protest a call from the second-base umpire and tried his best Trapasso impersonation, putting his hands on his hips and looking down as he protested.
"Just trying to have fun for the fans," he said.
UH previewed a starting lineup that should be similar to the one that takes the field Friday in the season opener against Oregon.
Freshmen Stephen Ventimilia and Kaeo Aliviado were in the lineup and Duval, a junior-college transfer, started at first base. Ventimilia played at second, while Aliviado played in left field, with Almadova in center and Zack Swasey in right.
Almadova went 5-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs and needed a home run in either of his final two at-bats to hit for the cycle.
"Some of the guys were talking about it, but I wasn’t trying to swing out of my butt," he said. "It felt good to get some hits and have some good at-bats."
Sisto was sharp in his final tuneup before next Friday’s opener, allowing two hits and one run in six innings, throwing nearly 70 pitches.
Freshman Lawrence Chew, who went to Mid-Pacific, tossed two shutout innings of relief, walking two but not giving up a hit.
"It was fun getting a chance to face Kolten and Jon Hee and those guys," Chew said. "I used to come to the games a lot — even last year — so it was really cool."
Brandon Haislet’s two-out RBI single in the first scored Hee for the alumni’s only run.
Eighteen players suited up for the alumni, including eight who played on the 2010 team that won the WAC tournament and advanced to an NCAA regional final.
Wong, who went 0-for-2 with a walk, said he leaves Saturday to report to the St. Louis Cardinals’ spring training site in Jupiter, Fla.
Former UH third baseman Vinnie Catricala, who didn’t play on Saturday, reports this week to Seattle Mariners spring training in Peoria, Ariz.
Linsky said he’ll report to the Tampa Bay Rays’ site in Port Charlotte, Fla., on March 2 and expects to start the season in high A ball.
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