Twenty-three times the Hawaii baseball team had trailed after seven innings this season and 23 times it had lost.
It’s one of a few streaks the Rainbow Warriors were happy to end Friday night at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif.
UH strung together three consecutive two-out hits in the top of the eighth inning to turn a one-run deficit into an eventual 7-4 win over Long Beach State in the opener of a three-game series.
Marcus Doi, who missed the previous game with a wrist injury, singled home the tying run and catcher Chayce Ka‘aua dropped a ball into shallow center to give UH its first lead.
Freshman Jonathan Weeks, starting at third base for the first time since Feb. 21, added his second RBI single of the game as Hawaii (16-26, 7-9 Big West) snapped an eight-game road losing streak.
It also snapped an eight-game road losing streak in conference play while surpassing its BWC win total from last season.
The Dirtbags (23-18, 8-8) lost for only the seventh time in 25 home games.
"We overcame a lot of adversity," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "We did some things that we haven’t done in a while. We scored late against shut-down bullpen guys, and then once we got the lead we separated, which was huge."
Assistant coach Rusty McNamara was tossed from the game for arguing balls and strikes in the bottom of the ninth inning with closer Quintin Torres-Costa on the mound.
Torres-Costa extended his scoreless streak to 171⁄3 innings despite walking three with two strikeouts to earn his fifth save.
Andrew Jones (1-3) earned the win with 12⁄3 shutout innings in relief of starter L.J. Brewster, who gave up four runs on seven hits in 51⁄3 innings with four walks and three strikeouts.
"You’ve got two pitching staffs that have been throwing strikes walking 15 guys. That’s just crazy," Trapasso said. "That’s the best I can put it. From first pitch to last, it was a crazy game."
Four UH hitters had two hits apiece, including Weeks, who played in only two of Hawaii’s first 15 conference games.
The ‘Bows trailed 4-2 in the seventh inning when Weeks singled home Ka‘aua, who hit a one-out double.
Alan Baldwin, who had two hits, singled to lead off the eighth but was still on first with two outs when Eric Ramirez drew a four-pitch walk.
Doi singled through the right side to score Baldwin with the tying run and Ramirez scored on Ka‘aua’s second hit.
Weeks, who is from Long Beach, brought in Doi with a base hit to make it 6-4.
"It was a big lift from him to get two hits that both scored runs for us," Trapasso said. "I’m happy for him because he’s the hometown boy. He had a lot of family and friends at the game."
Kaeo Aliviado added an insurance run in the ninth with a base hit to score Stephen Ventimilia.
Jones and Torres-Costa allowed one hit over 32⁄3 scoreless innings. Hawaii’s bullpen hasn’t allowed a run in its past 13 innings spanning four games.
The loss dealt a blow to Long Beach State’s hopes for an NCAA at-large berth. The Dirtbags fell 3 1⁄2 games behind league leader UC Irvine on a night when Cal State Fullerton (9-4), UC Santa Barbara (9-4) and Cal Poly (8-5) all won.
Two of the top five pitchers in the league will meet in Saturday’s game at 11 a.m. Hawaii time. Freshman Chris Mathewson, who is 5-3 with a league-leading 1.42 ERA, will start for LBSU against reigning Big West pitcher of the week Tyler Brashears (6-4, 1.97 ERA).
| HAWAII 7, LONG BEACH STATE 4 |
| hawaii |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
lbsu |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
| Ventimilia 2b |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Hampson ss |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Baldwin rf/lf |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Mercadel cf/lf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Aliviado cf |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Serven ph |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Sawelson dh |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Rasmussen lf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Ramirez 1b |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Sanchez pr/cf |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Doi lf |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Lundquist dh |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| LoCoco rf |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Rivera rf |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Ka’aua c |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Bishop 1b |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Weeks 3b |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Jackson c |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| Shldn-Cllns ss |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Hutting c |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
|
|
|
|
Domingues 2b |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
|
|
|
|
DeGoti 3b |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Totals |
40 |
7 |
12 |
7 |
Totals |
31 |
4 |
8 |
4 |
| HAWAII (16-26, 7-9 BWC) |
001 |
001 |
131 |
– |
7 |
12 |
0 |
| LBSU (23-18, 8-8 BWC) |
100 |
201 |
000 |
— |
4 |
8 |
1 |
E–DeGoti. DP–Hawaii 1. LOB–Hawaii 8, LBSU 11. 2B–Sawelson, Ka’aua, Sheldon-Collins. HBP–Hampson, Domingues. SH–DeGoti. SB–Hampson, Jackson 2. CS–Hutting, Domingues.
| HAWAII |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Brewster |
5 1/3 |
7 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
| Jones (W, 1-3) |
1 2/3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Torres-Costa (S, 5) |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
| LBSU |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Friedrichs |
61/3 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
| Lombana |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| McGeorge (L, 2-1) |
1/3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| Provencher |
1/3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| McCaughan |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
WP–Friedrichs. HBP–by Brewster (Hampson); by Brewster (Domingues). PB–Ka’aua, Jackson. Umpires–(Plate): Bradley Hungerford. (First): Dave Gimbi. (Third): Johnny Pineda. T–3:33. A–1,364.
| BIG WEST STANDINGS |
| |
Conference |
Overall |
| |
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
| UC Irvine |
11 |
4 |
.733 |
— |
26 |
16 |
| UC Santa Barbara |
9 |
4 |
.692 |
1 |
32 |
10 |
| CS Fullerton |
9 |
4 |
.692 |
1 |
24 |
20 |
| Cal Poly |
8 |
5 |
.615 |
2 |
20 |
22 |
| Long Beach St. |
8 |
8 |
.500 |
3 1/2 |
23 |
18 |
| Hawaii |
7 |
9 |
.438 |
4 1/2 |
16 |
26 |
| UC Davis |
5 |
8 |
.385 |
5 |
26 |
17* |
| CSUN |
5 |
11 |
.313 |
6 1/2 |
26 |
18 |
| UC Riverside |
2 |
11 |
.154 |
8 |
13 |
30 |
| *includes one tie for overall record |
Friday
Hawaii 7, Long Beach State 4
UC Santa Barbara 3, UC Davis 2
Cal Poly 6, CSUN 2
Cal State Fullerton 9, UC Riverside 0
*UC Irvine 3, Minnesota 2
Saturday
Hawaii at Long Beach State
UC Davis at UC Santa Barbara
CSUN at Cal Poly
Cal State Fullerton at UC Riverside
*UC Irvine at Minnesota
Sunday
Hawaii at Long Beach State
UC Davis at UC Santa Barbara
CSUN at Cal Poly
Cal State Fullerton at UC Riverside
*UC Irvine at Minnesota
*Nonconference game
