SAN JOSE, Calif. » San Jose State finally got a big inning Sunday, using a three-run fifth and the pitching of Zack Jones to salvage the final game of a three-game series with Hawaii, 6-4.

"It’s disappointing because I felt like we just didn’t play as well as we had the first two days," Rainbows coach Mike Trapasso said. "That’s gonna beat you."

Saint Louis School alum Kalei Contrades figured prominently in this one. The Spartans freshman started the game on the bench, but pinch-hit for designated hitter Jon Nelson in the fifth inning with runners on first and third, nobody out and two runs in. Contrades grounded into a double play, with Matt Lopez scoring.

In the seventh, Contrades came up with Michael Gerlach on first and one out. On a 1-0 pitch, the hit-and-run play was on and Contrades chopped a single over first baseman A.J. Bayus to send Gerlach to third. Gerlach then scored on a sacrifice fly.

Meantime, Contrades had taken over for starter Zack Jones in the top of the seventh after Jones went six innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits with nine strikeouts against one walk. Inheriting a 6-2 lead, Contrades made it through the seventh unscathed but was tested in the eighth.

First, he allowed a leadoff home run to Trevor Podratz. Then, he walked Collin Bennett. Contrades rebounded to strike out Breland Almadova swinging and Zack Swasey looking. Bayus walked to bring Garrett Champion to the plate representing the tying run.

Champion, you may recall, had three key doubles in the first two games of the series. Contrades was not impressed, striking him out on three pitches.

"I didn’t really have all of my pitches today," Contrades said. "But I just dealt with it and (went) in with what I had. I just dug down and did what I had to do to keep my team in it."

Said Jones, "The kid’s shown a lot of heart this year. It’s not an easy job to come in and adjust from high school to college play. … He does a great job of dealing with adversity. Obviously, you don’t want to lead off the inning with a home run and then walk a guy. But, he kept his breath, he kept his composure, he looked confident out there and he was able to get away with it."

Contrades allowed a run in the ninth on a single, stolen base and single, causing San Jose State coach Sam Piraro to call on Mike Aldrete, son of the former major leaguer of the same name. Aldrete walked Podratz, then got Bennett to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.

Scott Squier took the loss for Hawaii (23-16, 4-2 Western Athletic Conference). He allowed five runs in four-plus innings on six hits and four walks.

The only "clean" run was Nick Schulz’s solo home run in the second. A single, stolen base, passed ball and single led to a run in the second. Then, things fell apart in the fifth. Mike Reiling led off with a single, then went all the way to third on a bad pickoff throw by Squier, who had Reiling picked off. Schulz walked and Lopez singled in Reiling. That was all for Squier, who gave way to David Longville. A passed ball moved the runners up, and Gerlach’s single brought home Schulz and Contrades’ double-play ball scored Lopez.

"We’ll take the series win, but still leave with a bad taste in our mouth because we didn’t feel like we played well," Trapasso said. "I can take losing. but I can’t take not playing as well as we should or as we normally do. While we didn’t play bad, we just made enough mistakes to get beat by a good team."

Said Podratz, "We don’t want to settle for just (two out of three) because we feel as though we should have been able to take it because of the way we played the last two days. There’s a little fire in our bellies after that one. We’ve got to take it, but we would have liked to have walked out with three."

Next up for the Rainbows is a trip to Louisiana to face Grambling on Tuesday, then a three-game series at Louisiana Tech starting Thursday.