Ninety minutes before making the first start of his Hawaii baseball career, right-handed pitcher Dylan Thomas took a long shower.

He then put together a clean start, allowing four hits and striking out 11 in seven innings, to lead the Rainbow Warriors to a 9-1 victory over Longwood at Les Murakami Stadium.

A Saturday crowd of 869 saw Thomas allow an unearned run in the first inning before dominating the next six frames. He was lifted after nearing his 90-pitch limit. By then, Thomas had thrown strikes on 61 of 86 pitches. His lone walk was the only time he had a three-ball count.

“It’s nice to see a guy give us a quality start,” said UH coach Mike Trapasso, whose quality measurement is seven innings of three or fewer runs. “It shouldn’t take 10 games to get a quality start, but that’s what it took. Hopefully, we can continue that.”

First baseman Alex Baeza, designated hitter Logan Pouelsen and third baseman Ethan Lopez each drove in two runs in support of Thomas and relievers Scott Bellina and Carter Loewen. Baeza, Pouelsen, Lopez and shortstop Maaki Yamazaki took advantage of gaps created when the Lancers over-shifted in anticipation of pulled drives.

“Our team did a good job of sticking to our approach and hitting it where they ain’t,” Lopez said.

But the ’Bows’ third victory in a row might have been costly. Their best slugger, center fielder Adam Fogel, appeared to have jammed his right (throwing) shoulder on a slide to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. Scotty Scott moved from left to center in the top of the ninth.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen to (Fogel),” said Trapasso, indicating Fogel’s availability is in question for today’s 1:05 p.m. game. “We’ll have to see how he feels.”

There were no complications for Thomas, who finalized his move from closer. Thomas led the Big West with 14 saves last year. A recurring blister problem on his right hand kept him from pitching against Portland in the season-opening series two weeks ago.

Last week, he made two relief appearances. Thomas, a fourth-year junior, had set a routine for his first start since 2015, his senior year at Valencia (Calif.) High.

“I took a shower, relaxed a little bit, mentally locked in, went out and played catch, and went after it,” Thomas said.

To counter Longwood’s free-swinging batters, Thomas targeted the strike zone’s basement with fastballs and used the slider as his two-strike pitch.

“I kind of settled into a little bit of a rhythm after the second inning,” Thomas said. “I just realized if I executed my pitches and threw the ball down in the zone I was going to have success against them. That’s kind of did the rest of the way.”

Longwood’s two doubles came on elevated fastballs.

“I really had to stay low with (the pitches) and pound the zone,” Thomas said.

From the third out of the first through the first out of the fifth, Thomas retired 11 in a row.

“It was like last year when DT’s our closer and not many people are hitting him,” Lopez said of Thomas. “You put him at starter, and it’s the same deal playing behind that. It gets a little slower (on the field) when he strikes a lot of people out. But I’d rather have that than anything. He’s doing his job. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going.”

Bellina and Loewen each pitched a scoreless inning. Loewen missed the 2017 season after undergoing shoulder surgery, and he made only one appearance last year. Loewen struck out three of the four batters he faced in the ninth.

“I’m happy for Carter Loewen,” Trapasso said. “He’s been through more than anybody on this team. And I’m not exaggerating when when I say he might want it more than anyone because he worked so hard coming from shoulder surgery. To see him go out there and record his first out and strike out the side, he had tears in his eyes (because) he was so excited. That’s what this is all about.”