‘Bows get back to even

The Hawaii baseball team has worked its way back to .500 while playing one of the toughest schedules in the country and has plenty of momentum heading into Big West Conference play.

Senior Scott Kuzminsky fell one out short of his second complete game in seven days, while sophomore Juliene Jones pulled off a rare triple feat this weekend as Hawaii clinched a series victory over Alabama-Birmingham with a 4-2 win on Sunday afternoon at Les Murakami Stadium.

Trevor Podratz singled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Jones recorded his second save, getting Nathan Vincent to ground out to give UH its fifth win in six games and even its record at 12-12 heading into Big West play this week at No. 19 UC Santa Barbara.

UH has played the 15th-toughest schedule in the country, according to BoydsWorld.com.

"Honestly, we feel like we’ve gotten better each week and played well this second half of the nonconference," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "We’re definitely battle tested and it has definitely gotten us ready for what looks like a beast of a Big West."

Kuzminsky (3-2), who threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout in Monday’s 1-0 win over Nevada, lasted 82⁄3 innings against the Blazers (17-8), giving up two runs on seven hits with a career-high six strikeouts.

UAB put the tying run on first with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, forcing Trapasso to bring in Jones from third base to pitch.

The Rainbows sophomore, who scored the winning run in a walk-off win on Thursday and had the game-winning RBI in an 11-inning victory on Saturday, nailed down the save to give Hawaii a third win over the Blazers when either trailing or tied in the eighth inning or later.

"The save feels pretty good and on top we took game three out of four," Jones said. "The save is more rare and coming in here, I didn’t know I would pitch and now I’m the closer. So the save feels pretty good."

UAB tagged Kuzminsky for a run in the first inning on a Ryan Prinzing RBI single and added another in the fourth on a sacrifice fly.

Kuzminsky, who recorded all six of his strikeouts in the first four innings, retired six in a row before Griffin Gum’s one-out single in the ninth. UAB was down to its final out when Mitch Williams drew a walk, and Trapasso went to Jones with Kuzminsky at 104 pitches.

"I wanted (the complete game) bad, but I trust Juliene and he came in and did his job," Kuzminsky said. "I’ve never really been used to starting — I’ve always come out of the ‘pen — but it was fun and week after week I was getting used to it. If this was my last start, then I’m ready for whatever role Coach wants to use me in."

After playing six four-game series, UH will only play three times a weekend in the Big West, meaning one fewer starter in the rotation.

With senior Matt Cooper and juniors Scott Squier and Jarrett Arakawa entrenched in starting roles, Kuzminsky will go to the bullpen for the start of conference play. His recent two performances, however, along with a bullpen boosted by the return of Quintin Torres-Costa, gives Trapasso a lot to work with in the Big West.

"That’s a heck of a week. I’d like to find someone else in the country who went 172⁄3 innings with two wins in the same week," Trapasso said. "It gives us options. The biggest issue is (Kuzminsky) can come out of the bullpen and Jarrett can’t. The lucky thing is Jarrett is pitching well, so it’s a win-win either way."

Marc Flores hit an RBI single in the first, and Stephen Ventimilia added a run-scoring double in the fourth off UAB reliever Ben Bullard.

Cory Eller (1-3) lost for the second time in the series despite allowing only two hits over the final four innings.

Flores led off the bottom of the eighth and scored on Podratz’s single up the middle with one out.

Hawaii added an insurance run when freshman Matt Miller drilled a two-out RBI single to score Podratz, who had advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Hawaii won a series for the second time this season while handing UAB its first series loss.

"This was a good weekend for our kids because they knew how good these guys are after the first night," Trapasso said. "This is a good win against a good club because (UAB) could come in and compete in the Big West."

HAWAII 4, ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM 2