Bad things happened in threes for the University of Hawaii baseball team on Saturday.
UNLV scored three runs each in the second, sixth and seventh innings for a 9-3 victory over the Rainbow Warriors in the second round of the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament on the San Diego State campus.
It was the second setback in as many days for the ’Bows, who fell to 2-4 overall. The Rebels improved to 3-3.
The ’Bows play Fresno State at 8 a.m. today.
After the Rebels took a 3-0 lead against starting pitcher Andy Archer, the ’Bows came back to tie it with a three-run fifth inning. Stone Miyao and Matt Wong opened with back-to-back singles to center. Miyao came home and Wong went to third on Aaron Ujimori’s ground-rule double down the right-field line. Wong scored UH’s second run on Jordan Donahue’s one-out sacrifice fly to right. Ujimori scored the tying run on second baseman Edarian Williams’ throwing error.
But then the Rebels scored six runs — four of them earned — against the ’Bows’ usually reliable bullpen to move out of reach.
Austin Kryszczuk drew a walk to open the UNLV sixth, and Diego Alarcon and Henry Zeisler followed with singles to load the bases with no outs. Joey Walls then launched a towering fly that center fielder Cole Cabrera caught on the run. On the sacrifice fly, Kryszczuk scored to give the Rebels a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish, and Alarcon and Zeisler also advanced after tagging up.
Harry Gustin, the third UH pitcher, replaced Buddie Pindel. Williams swung and missed at a third strike. But when the pitch eluded catcher Dallas Duarte, Williams sprinted safely to first, reloading the bases. Eric Biangi’s two-run single to center extended the Rebels’ lead to 6-3.
In the UNLV seventh, Rylan Charles reached on a bunt toward first base. Kryszczuk hit a drive that Wong could not secure near the wall in right field. On what was ruled an error on Wong, Charles raced home to make it 7-3. Kryszczuk went to third on Alarcon’s ground-rule double to right. After Gustin struck out the next two batters, he unleashed a wild pitch that allowed Kryszczuk to score and Alarcon to advance to third. Williams’ single through the left side brought home Alarcon with the final run.
Pindel, who allowed three runs in 11⁄3 innings, was tagged with the loss.
The ’Bows received a tidy performance from Trevor Ichimura, who pitched a scoreless, four-pitch eighth inning.
The game also marked the return of shortstop Kyson Donahue, who missed the first five games while recovering from a hamate injury. Donahue, a Punahou graduate who transferred from Arizona last summer, went 2-for-4.
