Rainbows hold on to win opener at UC Riverside
Lawrence Chew got Devyn Bolasky to ground out to the pitcher with the tying run on second base and Hawaii held on for a 5-4 win over UC Riverside today at the Riverside Sports Complex in Riverside, Calif.
Kaeo Aliviado went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored for the Rainbows (16-33, 11-14 Big West), who have won four straight for the first time this season.
Connor Little (3-6) went six innings to earn his second straight win and Chew pitched the final three innings to record his fourth save.
Hawaii led 5-0 after five innings and took a 5-3 lead into the ninth.
After retiring the first six batters he faced, Chew gave up consecutive singles to put the tying run at first base with nobody out.
After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners over, the Highlanders (12-32, 8-17) scored one run on a sacrifice fly before Bolasky’s groundout ended the game.
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Marc Flores went 2-for-4 with a double and drove in the first two runs with a base hit in the top of the first.
Pi’ikea Kitamura also had two hits, drove in a run and scored once for Hawaii.
Little allowed seven hits and three earned runs with two walks and a strikeout.
Game 2 of the series is Friday at 3 p.m. Hawaii time.