Long Beach State shuts out University of Hawaii in baseball series opener

Every pitcher has his day, and Thursday belonged to Long Beach State’s Adam Seminaris.

Seminaris pitched a five-hitter to lead the Dirtbags to a 3-0 baseball victory over Hawaii at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif.

It was the first career shutout and complete game for Seminaris, a left-hander from Chino Hills, Calif. Seminaris entered with a 4-16 record and 4.16 ERA in two years with the Dirtbags. But in the opener of a three-game series, Seminaris mystified the Rainbow Warriors.

Seminaris struck out seven and walked none. He had entered with a 1.36 WHIP. He did not allow a runner to reach scoring position.

Seminaris retired the first 10 ’Bows in order. Daylen Calicdan’s one-out single ended the perfect game in the fourth. But then Calicdan was caught stealing.

“You have to give him credit,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said of Seminaris. “We didn’t even hit the ball hard. Tip your hat. He was just good.”

Seminaris threw strikes on 70 of 94 pitches to improve to 4-9. He has accounted for a third of the Dirtbags’ overall victories. By ending a seven-game losing streak, the Dirtbags are now 12-41 and 6-16.

Cade Smith and Colin Ashworth combined on a five-hitter for UH, which fell to 20-28 and 8-14. But the Dirtbags were able to make the most of limited opportunities.

In the first inning, Jacob Hughey hit a one-out single, went to second on Adain Malm’s walk, scooted to third on a passed ball, and scored on Smith’s wild pitch.

“We got two balls our catcher (Tyler Murray) has to block,” Trapasso said. “One is a passed ball. Honestly, both are passed balls in the first inning, where he gets lazy with his technique and we give them a run in the first inning.”

In the seventh, Smith exited after walking Santino Rivera and plunking Cole Joy. Brooks Stotler’s sacrifice against Ashworth advanced both runners. Pinch hitter Victor Carlino’s sacrifice fly to right scored Rivera for a 2-0 lead.

In the eighth, Hughey doubled and went to third on Chris Jimenez’s single to left. Hughey trotted home when Malm grounded into a double play.

“It was a pillow fight,” Trapasso said. “It was not a good outing offensively for either team. But we gave them (a run) on two passed balls in the first and they scored without a hit in the seventh. In the eighth, they earned (the run) because they got the job done. It was disappointing we weren’t able to score any runs.”

Once again, the ’Bows had to choose between two of their best hitters. Maaki Yamazaki has not been able to play shortstop the past 11 games because of soreness in his right arm when he makes deep throws. Yamazaki started at designated hitter, reducing Brennen Hancock to a pinch hitter’s role. In the past seven games, the ’Bows are averaging 2.3 runs.

“However you want to say it, the story of the game is their pitcher shut us out or hitters didn’t score any runs,” Trapasso said. “I think it was a combination of the two.”

UH freshman right-hander Aaron Davenport is scheduled to make his 12th start in today’s second game of the season-ending series.