A 20-hour travel day on Wednesday did little to affect Oklahoma sophomore Jake Elliott.

The right-hander got two defensive gems behind him to escape a third-inning jam and dialed it up the rest of the way, allowing three hits in the Sooners’ 5-1 win over Hawaii on Thursday night.

Elliott (3-1), pitching in front of a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,246, threw a career-high eight innings and struck out five with three walks to earn the win for the Sooners (13-7).

Kaeo Aliviado ended the shutout with a solo homer to right in the eighth, going deep in his fourth consecutive home game.

Hawaii (6-11) put the first two batters on base to start the ninth and had the tying run on deck when centerfielder Craig Aikin made back-to-back diving catches to rob Jordan Richartz and Matt LoCoco of hits that would have made the game interesting.

"They were better than us tonight by far," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "That wasn’t anything about being asleep or not being ready, that was Elliott absolutely dominating our hitters tonight."

Alex Sawelson had two of Hawaii’s four hits both also committed two errors as the Rainbow Warriors lost for the sixth time in seven games.

Elliott had retired 12 in a row when Aliviado sent a 2-1 pitch over the First Hawaiian Bank sign in right-center with one out in the eighth. He has four homers this season after hitting only one in his first 619 career at-bats.

"(Elliott) was a good pitcher and kept us off balance and all credit goes to him and his team," Aliviado said. "I’m trying to come out here and contribute to my team and was fortunate to get a good swing on it."

Junior L.J. Brewster (3-2) took the loss for Hawaii, allowing three runs on seven hits in 62⁄3 innings.

Oklahoma got to Brewster in the third inning with four hits that led to three runs. Hawaii managed to erase a leadoff double when Joshua Ake bunted into a fielder’s choice as Brewster was able to get the out at third, but it didn’t stop the Sooners.

Aikin singled up the middle and took second on the throw as Aliviado tried to throw out Ake at third.

Taylor Alspaugh followed with a two-run single and Anthony Hermelyn jumped on the first pitch from Brewster for a two-out double to left to bring in Alspaugh to make it 3-0.

"In that third inning I didn’t have control of anything and was leaving balls up," Brewster said.

Brewster struggled throughout the entire game but kept Hawaii in it, putting up zeroes over the next three innings, getting help from his defense.

Aliviado made a diving catch in center to rob Oklahoma of a hit to lead off the sixth and shortstop Jacob Sheldon-Collins started two different 6-3 double plays to keep UH within shouting distance.

Brewster didn’t record a strikeout but also didn’t walk a batter to keep UH within striking distance.

"That was by far the worst he’s felt as far as just completely being out of sync from the first pitch to the last," Trapasso said. "He didn’t have any command of any of his pitches, at all, all night, but he found a way to get us to the seventh inning which was really impressive because I didn’t think he would get out of the third."

Oklahoma played great defense all game long, robbing Hawaii of multiple hits with runners in scoring position.

Hawaii had two runners on with one out in the third inning when Alspaugh made a diving catch in shallow right to rob J.J. Kitaoka of a hit. Hermelyn then made a diving stop of an Eric Ramirez grounder behind the bag at first and flipped it to Elliott covering first to end the inning.

Alex Hatch allowed a run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning after he was hit on the forearm by a Sheldon Neuse hit that ended up in center field for a single.

Hatch allowed a leadoff single in the ninth and Josh Pigg gave up an RBI double to Chis Shaw, who finished 3-for-4 with two doubles.

Neuse moved in from shortstop to pitch the ninth and gave up a single to Sawelson and walked Alan Baldwin before Aikin’s two incredible catches.

Chayce Ka‘aua then squared up a line drive deep to left that was hit right at left fielder Hunter Hayley, who made the catch for the final out.

E—Sawelson 2. DP—Oklahoma 1, Hawaii 2. LOB—Oklahoma 6, Hawaii 7. 2B—Hermelyn, Tasin, Shaw 2. HR—Aliviado. HBP—Sheldon-Collins. SF—Haley.

WP—Hatch. HBP—by Elliott (Sheldon-Collins). Umpires—(Plate): Billy Van Raaphorst. (First): Frank Plugeradt. (Third): Mel Gatson. T—2:21. A—1,246.