Rainbows lose their second straight

Central Michigan has been on the road for so long — it’s starting to feel like home.

The Chippewas survived a 25-minute delay after the power went out at Les Murakami Stadium to defeat Hawaii 6-5 on Wednesday in the opener of a four-game series.

Central Michigan improved to 5-7 overall, playing all 12 games away from its home stadium.

Hawaii (9-5) lost its second in a row after winning eight straight, much to the disappointment of a crowd of 726.

"We’ve just got to be better," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "It’s not like we stunk up the joint. They beat us."The Rainbows trailed 6-4 with runners on first and second and two outs in the eighth when the lights went out, forcing a delay.

Once the game resumed, reliever Jon Weaver hit both Collin Bennett and Trevor Podratz with pitches, forcing in a run.

Zack Swasey then hit a dribbler down the third-base line and was called out on a close play at first in which he appeared to be safe.

"I thought he missed it and there’s a tie game right there," Trapasso said. "But that’s not why we lost the game, there were many other things."

Breland Almadova finished 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Stephen Ventimilia scored twice to lead Hawaii, which put the tying runner on in the ninth.

Pi‘ikea Kitamura led off with a single, but advanced no further as Weaver nailed down his first save of the season

Matt Theunissen, the Chippewas’ leading hitter at .348 coming into the series, recorded the first of three straight singles off of Hawaii starter Matt Sisto to score CMU’s first run in the second.

Hawaii avoided further damage when Kitamura threw out Jordan Adams trying to stretch a hit into a double on a relay throw from left fielder Kaeo Aliviado.

Nick Regnier was hit by a pitch with two outs in the fifth before working his way around the bases to put the Chippewas up 2-0.

He quickly stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Jordan Dean blooped a hit to left to score Regnier, who finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

UH answered in the bottom of the frame when Eric Wrozek was charged with a throwing error trying to gun Ventimilia out at first on a slow chopper to third.

Almadova followed with an RBI double to left, but was stranded on third when Central Michigan starter Jordan Foley struck out Podratz to end the inning.

Podratz hit cleanup for the second time this season, going 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Central Michigan chased Sisto in the sixth after back-to-back doubles by Adams and Sam Russell.

The Chippewas laid down two successful bunts off of reliever Patrick O’Rourke to score a fourth run that was charged to Sisto (3-1), who took the loss.

The senior right-hander allowed a season-high 10 hits in five innings, waking none with four strikeouts.

Hawaii rallied with two in the bottom of the sixth to pull within a run. Aliviado singled to bring in Swasey, who led off with a base hit.

Foley was taken out after a sacrifice bunt by Max Duval, and Sean Renzi allowed an RBI ground out to pinch hitter Garrett Champion before striking out Ventimilia looking to end the inning.

Foley (2-0) allowed five hits and three runs in 51⁄3 innings with four walks and six strikeouts in his first start as a freshman to earn the win.

"I was real impressed with (him)," Trapasso said. "We weren’t able to figure him out."

After the Chippewas took a 6-3 lead in the seventh, Hawaii loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the inning. Renzi, who walked a batter and hit Podratz with a pitch, struck out Swasey looking for a big first out. Kitamura drove in a run on a ground out before Regnier robbed Aliviado of tying the game, running down a ball in right-center for the third out.