Rainbows’ offense can’t get on track

Central Michigan coach Steve Jaksa only had one complaint about his 300th win.

"I wish it would have happened five games ago," he said.

The Chippewas gave their coach his milestone victory with a 3-1 win over Hawaii on Saturday to split both a doubleheader and a four-game series at Les Murakami Stadium.

Hawaii won the opener 2-1 but failed to earn a third consecutive series win, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in the loss.

"We’ve got to be better offensively," said shortstop Pi’ikea Kitamura, who had two of Hawaii’s six hits. "Our pitching came out and held them down and we should have won the second game."

Hawaii (11-6) held Central Michigan (6-9) to four runs over 16 innings but was still outscored.

Collin Bennett’s two-out RBI single was the only run Hawaii could muster off of starter Ryan Longstreth (2-1), who allowed five hits and three walks in six innings. Patrick Kaminska, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, gave up just one hit over the final three innings to earn his first save.

"It was great to see (Kaminska) come in there and pitch those last three innings after a nice start by Longstreth," said Jaksa, who is 300-229-1 in 10 years at Central Michigan. "Overall for us we feel good to come out of here 2-2 against a very good Hawaii team."

The Rainbows twice had opportunities to cut into the Chippewas’ lead but failed to execute at the plate. Freshman Stephen Ventimilia had two different at-bats with men on first and second with nobody out and failed to put down a bunt, striking out both times.

"The ironic thing is he’s one of our better execution guys," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "Those are pitches you’ve got to bunt and you can’t be that selective in a bunting situation."

Bennett nearly evened the game with a gapper to left-center in the seventh but was robbed by a diving catch from left fielder Sam Russell, who moved over from right an inning earlier.

Lawrence Chew (0-1) was tagged for two early runs and taken out after 2 1/3 innings, allowing five hits.

Freshman Kyle Dowdy, in his third outing of the year, did his best to keep the Rainbows in it, striking out a career-high 12 in 6 2/3 innings.

His only run allowed was unearned when Jordan Dean, who got one of three hits off of Dowdy, scored on a passed ball with two outs in the fifth.

"I tried to work ahead and finish people off with the slider," Dowdy said. "The zone definitely stretched out a little bit the later we got and I tried to extend the plate a little bit."

Central Michigan nearly pulled off a comeback in the opener, getting the tying run to third after trailing 2-0 entering the seventh.

The Chippewas had runners on second and third with two outs when William Arnold singled through the left side. Kitamura made a diving stop to keep the ball on the infield, holding the tying run at third.

Brent Harrison replaced David Longville to face CMU’s leading hitter, Nate Theunissen. Harrison got Theunissen to ground into a fielder’s choice, ending the game.

"Our pitching and our defense (were) rock solid, but we didn’t get that hit when we needed to," Trapasso said. "We keep pitching and play defense like we did today —our hitting is going to come around — but I thought overall both games our offense wasn’t what we needed."

Scott Squier (3-1) earned his third straight win, tossing four scoreless innings. The reigning Western Athletic Conference pitcher of the week walked two and struck out five, running his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 18.

"He was a little under the weather and wasn’t his normal self the whole day, so I was pleased with the effort we were able to get out of him," Trapasso said. "We knew once he hit that 75-pitch mark he was gassed."

Hawaii will finish off its season-opening 21-game homestand against San Francisco beginning on Thursday. The Dons are one of three straight teams from the West Coast Conference the Rainbows will play.