Rainbows baseball team has cold start in Nashville series, falls to Vanderbilt
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii first baseman Alex Baeza (10) catches the ball for an out during a game in Honolulu on Feb. 23. Baeza scored the ‘Bows’ only run today against Vanderbilt.
Mason Hickman and Sam Hliboki combined on a two-hitter to boost Vanderbilt to today’s 5-1 baseball victory over Hawaii at Hawkins Field on the Nashville, Tenn., campus.
The game started in 48-degree temperature, and the Rainbow Warriors never warmed up. Hickman struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings, and Hliboki fanned five the rest of the way. Neither right-handed pitcher issued a walk. The UH hitters averaged 6.6 strikeouts per nine innings in the first 10 games.
Harrison Ray’s two-run double sparked the Commodores’ three-run second inning.
The ’Bows’ run came when Alex Baeza, who opened the fifth with a double, scored from third on a third-strike wild pitch that eluded catcher Ty Duvall.
The second-ranked Commodores won their eighth in a row to improve to 9-2. The ’Bows fell to 7-4.
