Rainbows shore up their defense to beat Dons

The Hawaii baseball team went back to playing the style of baseball it prides itself on.

Max Duval hit the go-ahead single with two outs in the seventh inning, and Collin Bennett tacked on a key insurance run with a single to score Stephen Ventimilia in the eighth as Hawaii defeated San Francisco 3-1 on Saturday night.

Ventimilia went 3-for-4 with a run scored, and Brett Harrison nailed down his fourth save of the season in front of a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 2,669.

"That’s what it’s supposed to be like on a Saturday night with great weather and a full house," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "You have two teams that are really pitching and playing defense and it’s going to come down to the late-inning and timely hits and tonight we were able to do those things."

The Rainbows (13-7) cleaned up their defense, finishing with no errors after making seven in the first two games of the season.

Duval, who had two hits off USF ace Kyle Zimmer on Friday, came up with the clutch hit off Dons starter Abe Bobb on Saturday, singling with two outs in the seventh to score pinch runner Matt Harrison from second.

"I’m starting to turn it around," said Duval, who bumped his average to .204, going 1-for-3. "Right now I’m just trying to keep my head on straight.

"It’s all about going up there and having quality at-bats and stringing some hits together."

Harrison worked the final 12⁄3 innings to earn his second save of the series. The senior right-hander hasn’t allowed a hit in his last four appearances — a span of 42⁄3 innings.

"Harrison was as good as you’ll see him," Trapasso said. "He commanded the zone and had his sink and was just good tonight."

After giving up a run in the season opener against Oregon, Harrison has worked nine straight scoreless outings to lower his ERA to 0.64, becoming Hawaii’s go-to guy at the end of games.

"I want to be in position where I know (Trapasso) trusts me and it gives me confidence," Harrison said. "If I can come in and close the door and get us a win, I’m happy with it.

"I don’t need a name for it, but if that’s my job, that’s my job."

Designated hitter Trevor Podratz had two of Hawaii’s nine hits, including a two-out double in the seventh to set up the go-ahead hit.

Kyle Dowdy (1-0) worked 31⁄3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Scott Squier to earn his first career win at UH.

Bobb (3-2) was saddled with the loss, allowing two runs on seven hits in 62⁄3 innings with one walk and five strikeouts for USF (10-10).

"It’s been a real battle all series," Podratz said. "The pitching has been hard to get by, but we got some nice, timely hits with two outs."

USF’s aggressiveness on the base paths allowed it to take the first lead for the third consecutive game. Right fielder Bradley Zimmer, who was hit to start the top of the third, stole third on a 3-0 pitch from Squier, who walked Justin Maffei. Jason Mahood followed with a fly ball hit deep enough to center for Zimmer to tag from third, putting the Dons up 1-0.

It ended a streak of 202⁄3 consecutive innings Squier had thrown without giving up a run.

"I didn’t think Squier had good stuff from the beginning and was struggling with his release point from the first inning," Trapasso said. "But he gave us enough to get to Dowdy."

Hawaii didn’t let USF hold the lead for long, answering with three straight two-out hits in the bottom of the frame.

After Cody Clark singled up the middle, Ventimilia reached on his second hit that didn’t make it out of the infield. Breland Almadova then drove a 1-1 pitch from Bobb back up the box for a single that scored Clark, tying the game at 1-all.