In need of a boost, the Hawaii baseball team went with the Buddie system.

Buddie Pindel pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless — and walk-less — relief to help the Rainbow Warriors top UC San Diego 5-2 and salvage a doubleheader split at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Tritons railed and then held on for a 4-2 victory in Saturday’s first game.

“I’m happy to win and get off the schneid and play well enough to get a victory the way we’ve been playing,” said UH coach Mike Trapasso, whose ’Bows ended a six-game losing streak to improve to 24-21 overall and 16-19 in the Big West.

The ’Bows entered this four-game series relinquishing a league-best 2.34 walks per nine innings. But they issued 16 walks, including one intentionally, in the first three games. Three walks contributed to the Tritons’ four-run eighth inning in the doubleheader’s first game, and UH left-hander Austin Teixeira allowed three walks in 22⁄3 innings in the second game.

With the bases filled with two outs in the third, Pindel was beckoned to replace Teixeira. “Tex was just missing too much and throwing too many pitches,” Trapasso said of Teixeira, who threw strikes or to contact on 42 of 70 pitches.

Pindel struck out Ryan McNally to extinguish the Tritons’ third-inning threat. Pindel spaced five hits, struck out five and walked zilch to carry the ’Bows into the ninth. After Pindel allowed a leadoff hit and plunked a batter, Tyler Dyball entered. Dyball struck out Michael Fuhrman, then induced Aaron Kim to ground into an apparent game-ending double play. After an appeal and video review, it was confirmed that Kim indeed did not out-race the throw to first.

“Buddie was the story of the game,” Trapasso said. “He goes out and doesn’t walk anybody. It really can be that simple in most instances. We walked 15 (unintentionally) in three games. We should go three weeks without walking 15. That was the story of the first game (of the doubleheader). That was the story of (Friday) night. Half the runs in Games 1 and 2 (0f the series) got on base via the walk, and that’s how you get beat.”

Trapasso said Pindel appeared to be focused pitching in front of an audience of about 200. Earlier in the week, Gov. David Ige and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi issued a joint ruling that a limited number of spectators could attend outdoor sporting events. Family members and close friends of UH and UCSD fans were allowed to attend.

Trapasso said Pindel’s poise was not surprising. “I see it every day with him,” Trapasso said. “He’s very poker-faced. He’s very even-keeled. He has a lot of confidence. He was fine. He wasn’t any different than he’s been. He was really good.”

Through the doubleheader’s first game, the ’Bows were in an offensive slump in which they scored runs in four of 52 innings. But in the twinbill’s second game, Adam Fogel drove in runs in the first and third innings, including the go-ahead sacrifice fly to make it 3-2, and Dustin Demeter added a two-run single in the seventh.

“Fortunately we were able to score in multiple innings for the first time in three weeks in that second game,” Trapasso said. “It allowed us to distance ourselves and give us some breathing room and win the game.”

The ’Bows had a 2-0 cushion in the first game when Cade Halemanu exited after seven innings. Trapasso said the right-hander was experiencing cramps in his pitching forearm. Trapasso said Li‘i Pontes, who has pitched well in recent outings, had an extensive warmup in the bullpen and matched well against the Tritons. But a walk, triple and double tied it at 2. Jackson Kritsch’s two-run single capped the four-run eighth.

“It’s a shame,” Trapasso said. “It ruined an outstanding outing by Cade.”