UC Irvine shuts out UH in baseball series finale

Sunday was a not-so-fun day for the Hawaii baseball team.

UC Irvine right-hander Trenton Denholm allowed three hits in eight innings — none in the first four frames — in a 4-0 victory at Les Murakami Stadium.

The 19th-ranked Anteaters won twice in this three-game Big West series.

“You have to give them credit,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said. “On a Sunday, you’re supposed to be facing the 3-hole guy. It shows the depth of their rotation. He was really good, and we just didn’t have an answer for him.”

This season, the ’Bows are 2-4 and batting .209 in Sunday home games.

“We’re usually a little better on Sunday, but we haven’t been this year,” Trapasso said.

Denholm and closer Taylor Rashi contributed largely to the ’Bows’ offensive struggles. Denholm, who was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2017, did not allow a hit until Brennen Hancock’s leadoff single in the fifth. An out later, Dallas Duarte grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Denholm walked two, struck out seven, and had only three-ball counts to four of the 28 batters he faced. The ’Bows did not have a runner reach third base.

“The story of the game was their pitcher, and what a good job he did,” Trapasso said of Denholm.

Denholm benefited from studying the UH hitters the previous two nights, checking a detailed scouting report posted in the UCI dugout, and mastering a curveball, change-up and 92-mph fastball.

“I was able to trust the defense,” Denholm said. “The guys have been playing great. I was getting ahead early (in the count) and pounding the zone.”

Denholm also did not mind yielding to Rashi entering the ninth. “It was a good time to pull me,” said Denholm, who threw 103 pitches, including 61 for strikes. “I was getting pretty tired. The humidity was pretty tough.”

The ’Bows also received productive pitching from Li‘i Pontes and relievers Logan Pouelsen and Dylan Thomas. But mistakes were the centerpieces to the Anteaters’ first three runs.

After Mike Peabody opened the UCI second with the first of his three hits, John Jensen hit an opposite-field fly to left. Daylen Calicdan misjudged the trajectory, and the ball pinged off his glove for an error. Peabody eventually scored on Christian Koss’ sacrifice fly, and Jensen came home on Grifin Mazur’s RBI single.

In the fourth, Pouelsen threw a fastball that was intended for the outside edge of the strike zone. But the pitch broke inside, and Brendan Brooks smacked the ball over the wall in left field for his second solo homer in as many days.

“Credit them for hitting a mistake,” Trapasso said.

The Anteaters’ fourth run came on Jake Palmer’s run-scoring single up the middle that just eluded second baseman Jack Kennelly.

“We had a bad day today,” Trapasso said.

Counting Aaron Davenport’s strong outing in Friday’s 10-2 victory, Trapasso said, “we pitched well two out of three days. If we make it three out of three, we’ll have a chance to be in every series.”

Trapasso said the Big West-opening series prompted some decisions. Hancock, who went 4-for-9 this series, has locked down the designated hitter’s job. “Hancock gives us quality at-bats,” Trapasso said. “A quality at bat doesn’t have to be hits all the time. He gets walks. He gets on base. And he battles.”

Trapasso said Jeremy Wu-Yelland, who lasted only two innings in Saturday’s start, will be given a rest from the starting rotation for this coming week’s series against UC Davis. Trapasso said Davenport will open on Friday, with Cade Smith, Pontes and Pouelsen as the leading options for the next two starts.