No. 15 Arizona State sweeps Hawaii baseball team in doubleheader

A day after edging Arizona State in an error-free victory in Friday’s season opener, Hawaii dropped two roller-coaster battles on Saturday as the host Sun Devils swept a doubleheader to claim the series win in Phoenix.

Hunter Haas hammered a two-run inside-the-park homer in the bottom of the eighth inning and No. 15 Arizona State held off a Rainbow Warrior rally in a 6-5 win in the first game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

In the finale, UH erased a 4-0 deficit, but the Sun Devils pieced together a three-run outburst in the bottom of the seventh in a 9-6 victory to close the series.

“I’m disappointed in that we just didn’t play clean baseball today,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said in a phone interview after the long afternoon/evening at the ballpark. “We didn’t play what is really our brand, which is pounding the zone and playing good defense. We played well offensively to win both games, but we just didn’t pitch well and the leadoff man every inning just seemed to kill us.

“(The Sun Devils are) super athletic and they were able to take advantage of all the times they were able to get the leadoff man on, they were able to take advantage of falling behind in the count. Tip of the cap to them, but I know we’re better than what we showed today. So I’m encouraged actually.”

UH sophomore Cade Halemanu struck out five and walked five over five innings in his start in Saturday’s opener. Reliever Jake Hymel had two walks and two strikeouts in three innings and took the loss after giving up four runs on six hits, most notably Haas’ drive off the center-field fence in the eighth.

UH catcher Konnor Palmeira, a freshman out of Kamehameha-Maui, drilled a two-run homer into the Rainbows’ bullpen beyond the left-field fence in his first collegiate at-bat to give UH a 2-1 lead in the second inning. The teams traded rallies and UH forced a 4-4 tie in the seventh when pinch hitter Jacob Igawa drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in Alex Baeza.

Hymel got two quick outs in the bottom of the eighth before Drew Swift singled. With Swift on third, Haas hit a drive off the center-field wall as UH’s Adam Fogel crashed into the fence in pursuit. As Fogel tracked down the ball, Haas circled the bases and was sent home. He twisted around the attempted tag by Palmeira and touched the plate to give ASU a 6-4 lead.

“Right off the bat I thought it was going to be caught and it just kept carrying,” Trapasso said. “It hit the top of the wall and took the perfect ricochet about 30 feet away from (Fogel).”

UH answered with a run in the top of the ninth on Tyler Best’s RBI single to score Matt Campos, who delivered a pinch-hit double to lead off the inning. After a bunt, ASU closer Ethan Long got two flyouts to end the game.

Freshman Connor Harrison got the start for UH in the finale and Arizona State struck first for the third time in the series when Sean McClain drove in Jack Moss from third with a one-out single in the bottom of the second. After a flyout, Lampe pulled a home run inside the right-field foul pole and Swift made it back-to-back shots with a blast out to left field to give the Sun Devils a 4-0 lead.

UH caught and passed ASU with a five-run fourth inning, with three runs scoring on bases-loaded walks.

After ASU reclaimed the lead, UH tied the game again with two out in the top of the seventh when Dallas Duarte hustled to score from second on Igawa’s infield single.

But the Sun Devils put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh and moved ahead when UH left fielder Naighel Calderon couldn’t secure a running catch of Moss’ shallow flyball. Sean McClain drove in another run with a soft single into right field. Kade Higgins looped an opposite-field single into shallow left to push ASU’s lead to 9-6.

“(UH reliever) Tyler Dyball actually pitched really well and had plus stuff, he just had really bad luck,” Trapasso said. “He didn’t give up a single hard contact his entire inning but just got bled to death.”

Jared Glenn struck out five over 3 2⁄3 innings of relief and earned the win. Brady Corrigan retired all six batters he faced, four on strikeouts, to pick up a save.

UH opens its home schedule with a four-game series against Hawaii Pacific University starting Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium.