Rainbows bail out Goldenberg

Nobody let out a bigger sigh of relief after the final out than Hawaii junior Joe Goldenberg.

Brent Harrison got Bob Cruikshank to ground into a double play after Goldenberg’s second error of the game put the tying run on second base as Hawaii opened a four-game series against San Francisco with a 2-1 victory on Thursday night.

Goldenberg, starting in place of freshman Kaeo Aliviado, who was out with the flu, drove in UH’s only runs of the game with a two-run single in the seventh.

Harrison, who entered the game in the ninth with one out and runners on first and second, needed just two pitches to get the game-ending double play to earn his third save.

"It saved my night," Goldenberg said. "About 1,000 pounds came off my shoulders."

It also made a winner out of Hawaii starter Matt Sisto (4-1), who gave up an unearned run in seven innings on four hits with three strikeouts.

He did not walk a batter for his fourth consecutive start, running his streak to 29 innings without issuing a free pass.

"I had to go out there and try to keep us in the game because they were putting up zeros and didn’t give up a hit through six innings," Sisto said. "Tomorrow is going to be the exact same game, where the first team to mess up and give up a run — that might be it."

A Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,402 saw UH survive three errors to improve to 12-6 overall and 4-1 in the first game of a series this season.

Hawaii got its only three hits in the seventh inning, scoring on Goldenberg’s single off of USF starter Alex Balog.

Balog (0-1) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but took the loss despite striking out a career-high 11.

"It was an interesting game where you had two teams that are very good defensively and yet the game comes down to both of us making mistakes defensively to give up runs," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "Balog was throwing like a major leaguer, and if their ace is going tomorrow and (Balog) is not their ace, then that’s the best 1-2 punch that we’re going to see probably for a few years."

USF (9-9) plays a four-game series only twice this year and decided to pitch its regular starters on their normal days, beginning with junior right-hander Kyle Zimmer on Friday.

With both teams unable to muster any offense, Hawaii gave the Dons a 1-0 lead with two errors in the top of the sixth.

The costly error came on a double-play ball hit to short that Pi‘ikea Kitamura threw wide of the bag at second, allowing USF to put runners on second and third with one out.

Brendan Hendriks lifted a fly ball to center, shallow enough for Breland Almadova to try to make a play at the plate. The ball was cut off near the mound by first baseman Max Duval, allowing Nik Balog to score from third to give the Dons the lead.

Collin Bennett ended Alex Balog’s no-hit bid with a single to start the seventh, and a throwing error by the pitcher on a bunt by Zack Swasey put men on first and second with nobody out.

Kitamura followed with a bunt single to load the bases, setting up the wining hit by Goldenberg.

"(Hitting) coach (Rusty) McNamara gives us the approach to wait for a ball up that we can hit hard, and he threw me one and I was able to find the hole," Goldenberg said.

The team’s leading hitter at .339 coming in, Kitamura made a rare error that set up USF’s only run of the game trying to turn a double play.

With the tying run on second in the ninth, Kitamura got a similar ground ball that he turned perfectly, setting up the final throw to first for the win.

"That’s exactly what I wanted," Kitamura said. "It was just a matter of inches of getting that double play and getting Sisto out of that inning, but I put that on me.

"He came out and pitched so well and I wanted that ball in that situation to turn two and get out of here with a win."

Zimmer (0-1, 3.00 ERA), projected as a potential first-round draft pick in this summer’s draft, will oppose Hawaii left-hander Jarrett Arakawa (2-0, 1.63) in tonight’s game at 6:35.

Schedule change

Hawaii’s doubleheader against Saint Mary’s scheduled for April 14 has been moved back a day to accommodate the Dalai Lama’s visit to the UH-Manoa campus.

The Gaels and Rainbows will play a single game on April 14 at 6:35 p.m. The teams will then play a doubleheader on April 15, beginning at 11 a.m.