The University of Hawaii baseball team absorbed UC Riverside’s best blows, then responded with two runs in the sixth and seven in the seventh to surge to Saturday night’s 11-7 victory over UC Riverside at Les Murakami Stadium.
A crowd of 2,640 saw the Rainbow Warriors solve the Highlanders’ surprisingly effective starting pitching to win their season-best fourth in a row. The ’Bows improved to 12-16 overall and 7-10 in the Big West, as well as clinched their first series victory. The three-game set concludes this afternoon, with Dalton Renne’s first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
“First of all, we want to create the mentality we’re going to run to the fight,” UH coach Rich Hill said. “That’s baseball. There’s no clock. When you have that mentality of stay in the fight, it’s inch by inch. They punch, we punch back. These guys have been great all year.”
The Highlanders, who fell to 4-24 and 2-9, entered the weekend with an 8.88 ERA and 2.04 WHIP.
But Jeremiah Priddy contained the ’Bows on Friday night for five innings, and Tucker Juline was effective through five frames on Saturday. Juline, who entered 1-1 with a 14.06 ERA, exited with a 6-2 lead after walking Cole Cabrera to open the sixth. Cabrera came around to score on Matt Wong’s RBI single. The Highlanders’ throwing error trying to complete a double play brought home another UH run to cut the deficit to 6-4.
The ’Bows busted it open with a seven-run seventh in which 11 batters went to the plate and two pitching changes were made. Stone Miyao’s two-run single tied it at 6.
“It was a fastball outside,” the left-swinging Miyao said. “It was there. I saw it. I tried to put my best swing on it, and I guess I did.”
Wong’s RBI single gave UH a 7-6 lead it would not relinquish.
“Something I’ve been doing recently is kind of like thinking less,” said Wong, who homered on Friday night and went 3-for-4 on Saturday. “With my approach, it’s putting less pressure on myself by thinking less. I tend to do that a lot when I put pressure on myself. I don’t really seize the moment. I want to get the job done. I want to win. But lately I’ve been thinking less. Put a good swing on it. It was a hanging curveball, and I hit it.”
Jacob Igawa followed with a run-scoring single, and Jordan Donahue brought home two more runs as the ’Bows widened their lead to 9-6.
The ’Bows scored two runs in the fourth but missed a chance to tie it at 3.
Down 3-0, UH second baseman Miyao drew a two-out walk and went to second on Wong’s single to left. Both scored when Igawa’s drive to center eluded outfielder Jacob Badawi’s leaping attempt at a catch.
Igawa went to third when the left-swinging Donahue put down a bunt that rolled past Juline for a single. To force the action, Donahue broke toward second, but he was tagged in a rundown for the third out before Igawa could reach home.
It was the second baserunning miscue for the ’Bows. In the first inning, DallasJ Duarte was caught off second and tagged in a rundown.
The Highlanders seemed to get some elbow room with a three-run fifth inning to extend their lead to 6-2.
UCR shortstop Anthony Mata grounded a one-out single to center. One out later, Jacob Shanks hit a hard grounder that shortstop Kyson Donahue could not handle.
Hill then summoned Buddie Pindel to relieve starting pitcher Andy Archer. But Pindel, who had been dominant in two of his three previous appearances, plunked Taylor Juline to load the bases and then beaned Nate Webb to bring home a run. Joey Nicolai followed with a single to center to bring home Shanks and Juline for a 6-2 lead. But Pindel rallied, and earned the victory to improve to 3-1. Only one of the Highlanders’ seven runs was earned.
