Baseball ‘Bows start strong

The start of the Year of the Dog was the Night of the Rainbows.

The Hawaii baseball team made all the right moves for a season-opening 4-0 victory over Air Force before 1,712 at Les Murakami Stadium.

“It was a good start because it was really clean,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said of the ’Bows, who began the season with a victory for the first time since 2013. “That’s all you can ask for on an opening night. You don’t want to walk guys. You don’t want to make errors.

Designated hitter Chayce Ka‘aua, left fielder Johnny Weeks and third baseman Ethan Lopez each had two hits to support Jackson Rees’ seven shutout innings.

Rees, who moved from the back of the rotation last year to No. 1 this season, relied on a fastball and cutter to strike out six. He relinquished one walk, and did not allow a Falcon to reach third base.

“I was a little anxious to get out there and face some live bats,” Rees said. “It worked out pretty well. The fastball was working. It was throwing it up, down, out. Out was a big key. It set up my cutter on a couple of strikeouts.”

Rees benefited from a change in motion, from over-the-top to three-quarter. Rees escaped a two-on, one-out dilemma in the second when he induced Ashton Easley to hit into double play. With Falcons on first and second in the fourth, Rees struck out Easley to end the threat.

With UH ahead 3-0, freshman Cade Smith replaced Rees at the start of the eighth. Smith got the first two outs but then gave up a walk to Nic Ready and a single to Gabe Martinez.

Trapasso then summoned Dylan Thomas, who was successful on all nine save opportunities last year.

“I brought him in to get the save,” Trapasso said. “The tying run’s (at the plate). We don’t have that luxury in college to only throw your closer that one inning. When the tying run (is at the plate) in the eighth, you’ve got to go with your best guy.”

Thomas got the final out of the eighth. He earned the save in the ninth when the ’Bows turned their second double play of the game.

“The slider was back, which I’m happy about,” Thomas said. “The last couple of intrasquads, I was having a hard time commanding it.”

The ’Bows scored their final run with two out in the eighth against Nick Biancalana. Weeks singled to left with two outs, then scored on Lopez’s double into the gap in left-center.

The ’Bows made it 3-0 in the fifth, chasing Falcons starting pitcher Tyler Mortenson in the process. Dustin Demeter opened with a double to the right-field corner. One out later, Adam Fogel sizzled a grounder down the third-base line for a double, scoring Demeter.

That was all for Mortenson, who lasted only 4 1/3 innings, totaling 99 pitches. Mortenson made 16 appearances last season, starting one game. His longest outing was five innings. He averaged 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings last year, and struck out Dylan Vchulek and Kekai Rios three times each. But Mortenson surrendered five hits and four walks.

The ’Bows scored their first runs of the season in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 lead.

Ka‘aua, who missed half the 2017 season because of a sports hernia, led off with a liner to right. He advanced to second on a wild pitch that skipped off the artificial turf in the batting area. First baseman Eric Ramirez then lined a shot to left, scoring Ka‘aua.

The ’Bows loaded the bases on Weeks’ walk on four pitches and Lopez’s bunt single. Maaki Yamazaki then hit a chopper to third. Jacob Booker stepped on the bag, but his throw to first was too late to get Yamazaki, who earned his first RBI.