Hawaii’s bats come alive in rout of North Dakota State

A self-made switch-hitter, a refurbished third baseman, and a long-haired long reliever added up to the Hawaii baseball team’s 11-3 rout of North Dakota State at Les Murakami Stadium.

A Sunday matinee crowd of 1,187 saw the Rainbow Warriors amass double-digit runs for the second consecutive day to win for the fourth time in five games this season.

The Bison fell to 1-2. The finale of this four-game series is today, with the first pitch set for 1:05 p.m.

“That’s two good days in a row,” said head coach Mike Trapasso, whose ’Bows scored five runs in each of the second and sixth innings.

The ’Bows had nine hits — six of which were for extra bases, including three triples — drew six walks against four NDSU pitchers and were plunked three times.

>> Photo Gallery: Baseball: North Dakota State vs. Hawaii

Shortstop Kole Kaler went 3-for-5, scored three runs and drove in four. He pulled drives down the right-field line for a double and triple. “I saw the ball well, and got pitches I could hit,” Kaler said.

Kaler said he began playing baseball when he was 4.

“They put a bat in my hand, and I went with it,” Kaler said. When he was 11, he taught himself to bat left-handed.

Trapasso praised Kaler’s hitting and maturity. “He’s a poised leader,” Trapasso said.

When Kaler was charged with an error on a hard-smacked grounder that he could not back-hand cleanly, he was not fazed. “It wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “We turned a double play on the next play.”

Dustin Demeter continued to show no ill effects of missing the 2019 season following surgeries to both hips. Demeter doubled home a run in the second inning and, in the fifth, had an RBI single on a shot that ricocheted off the pitcher and went into right field.

“I’m being more selective, and key-holing pitches to hit,” said Demeter, who also walked twice. “It’s being stubborn and waiting for my pitch. If I don’t get it, I’m not going to swing. It’s just locking into the zone.”

Center fielder Matt Wong also has shown patience at the plate. It was Wong’s two-run double — a grounder that hit the second-base bag and bounced into right field — that staked the ’Bows to a 2-0 lead in the second.

“I haven’t been hitting well lately,” Wong said. “That was a good one to finally get off. Once I saw the ball hop, I wasn’t going to stop.”

Wong also used his speed — 6.6 seconds over 60 yards — to cut off Bison drives into the gaps. But his best move was helping the ’Bows land pitcher Buddie Pindel. Wong, a two-time All-State selection for Saint Louis School, and Pindel were College of Southern Nevada teammates the previous two seasons. Wong committed to UH last year, but Pindel was still waiting for an offer after the 2019 spring semester ended.

“I told him to be patient, it was going to come,” Wong recalled.

When a UH spot became available in June, Trapasso recalled, Pindel “was the first guy I came to see.”

“I was a very late commitment,” Pindel said.

Pindel is known for his long hair — he’s trimmed it a few times since growing it out six years ago — and high-spin fastball. During fall training, Trapasso helped right-handed Pindel master a change-up. On Sunday, Pindel entered at the start of the fifth with UH leading 5-3.

In four scoreless innings, Pindel allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked none. He threw strikes on 43 of 61 pitches, and did not have a three-ball count.

“I wanted to get ahead of counts, win the even counts, and pound the zone,” said Pindel, estimating six of the change-ups were for third strikes.

Trapasso said of Pindel: “He’s a strike thrower. That’s what we like about him.”