Matt Wong belted a two-run homer, left-hander Connor Harrison stranded the potential tying run at second in the ninth inning, and the Hawaii baseball team turned a triple play in a 3-2 victory over Minnesota at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
By winning the opener of the Cambria College Classic, the Rainbow Warriors improved to 5-3. They face Nebraska today at 11 a.m. Minnesota fell to 0-9.
In the first inning, Wong hit his two-run drive to center in the converted football stadium that also is the home to the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.
The Gophers loaded the bases with no outs in the third. Boston Merila hit a drive that UH third baseman Zach Storbokken knocked down. Storbokken tagged third base for a forceout, then threw home to catcher Alton Gyselman, who chased down Riley Swenson for the second out. Gyselman then flipped the ball to pitcher Harry Gustin on the left side of the mound. Noticing that Merila, who thought Storbokken caught the liner, had not gone to first, Gustin threw to first baseman Jacob Igawa to complete the triple play.
“Triple plays are always weird, right?” UH coach Rich Hill said.
Unsure whether Merila had touched first and left the bag or not touched it at all, Hill recalled, “we’re screaming: ‘Jacob, tag him, tag him.’”
Hill added: “I thought we executed the rundown really well. We created space and then closed the door. The guys did a really good job there.”
The Gophers closed to 2-1 on Swenson’s bases-empty homer in the fifth.
But the ’Bows made it 3-1 when pinch hitter DallasJ Duarte doubled off the left-field wall, went to third on Magnum Hofstetter’s sacrifice, and scored on Jared Quandt’s single up the middle. Quandt, who did not play last season while recovering from a shoulder injury, is hitting a team-best .550 this season.
Gustin, making his second start, spaced six hits and walked only one in five innings. “A really good start for Harry Gustin,” Hill said. “He’s throwing strikes. He’s filling up the zone.”
Alex Giroux, who pitched five hitless innings in his last outing, gave up two hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Pinch hitter Weber Neels’ RBI double cut the Gophers’ deficit to 3-2 with two outs in the ninth. Hill summoned the left-handed Harrison to replace the right-handed Giroux.
“Their batter was hitting .062 against left-handers,” Hill said. “That prompted the move to Connor.”
Harrison induced Jake Perry to ground a 2-1 pitch to first for the one-out save.
“Just hand the ball over to (Harrison) late in the game and he’s really stepped up,” Hill said. “His (fastball) is not touching 90, but he developed a slider with (pitching) Coach (Mathew) Troupe that can really separate him. His fastball really plays up because everyone is looking for the curveball or changeup.”
