Rainbows drop fifth in a row, 5-1 to UCLA

LOS ANGELES » In the midst of another defeat, Scott Squier might have found himself.

Hawaii’s sophomore left-hander dominated six of the seven innings he pitched Tuesday against No. 17 UCLA. Yet the Bruins scored all the runs they would need in the third inning for a 5-1 victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Squier allowed just two hits — the fewest in any of his starts this year — walked three Bruins and struck out seven, the second-highest number of strikeouts in any of his games.

The left-hander retired the first seven batters he faced, frustrated another 11 in succession between the third and sixth innings, and allowed only one hit after the third.

"I figured a lot of stuff out on the mound that I needed to work out," Squier said. "Release point has been the thing. It’s just been inconsistent lately. But stuff just started clicking tonight. I learned a lot from just battling."

As a result, Squier feels reinvigorated as the Rainbows (7-22) finish their road trip at Cal Poly this weekend.

"I’m excited," he said. "Going into this weekend, I feel confident."

The Rainbows held the Bruins (20-9) to four hits but did nothing offensively to lose for the fifth straight game.

It’s the third losing streak of at least five games this season for Hawaii, which has scored only three runs in its past four games.

With one out in the third, Tyler Scott walked and came home on Brenton Allen’s triple. After Squier walked Brian Carroll and hit Trent Chatterton to load the bases, Kevin Kramer hit a ground ball between second baseman Stephen Ventimilia’s legs for an error that scored Allen.

Pat Valaika’s sacrifice fly extended the Bruins’ lead to 3-0 before Squier retired the next 10 hitters he faced.

Trevor Podratz and Max Duval, who got a rare start at designated hitter, hit consecutive two-out singles in the second before Cody Poteet struck out Kalei Hanawahine to end the inning.

Those were the only two hits allowed by Poteet (2-3), who struck out two and walked two in five innings to earn the win.

Hawaii first baseman Marc Flores ended an 0-for-13 skid with a two-out RBI single off reliever Jake Ehert to score Pi‘ikea Kitamura in the sixth, making it 3-1.

Podratz singled for the second time in the game and UH had the tying run on second in the seventh. Alan Baldwin pinch-hit for Ventimilia after UCLA brought in a left-handed reliever and struck out to strand two.

Hawaii is 1-8 away from Les Murakami Stadium this season.