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From queasy to easy, Harry Gustin pitched a one-hitter over seven innings to lead the Hawaii baseball team to Friday night’s 3-1 victory over Tulane at Les Murakami Stadium.
A crowd of 1,996 saw Gustin, a left-handed sophomore, mystify the Green Wave while third baseman Kyson Donahue’s two-run double keyed a three-run sixth in the opener of a three-game series.
“Harry was the reason we won this game,” Donahue said. “He did an unbelievable job.”
Gustin said his stomach “was a little uneasy” after arriving at the stadium. “Puked once in the bullpen,” Gustin said. “Started catch play. Had a little more to get out, and I felt good. … I get the little butterflies before start days, but not very often do I puke something out.”
UH coach Rich Hill noted that Colt Brennan, UH’s Heisman Trophy finalist, “used to do that too.”
Gustin and Tulane left-hander Dylan Carmouche were locked in a pitcher’s duel until the ’Bows broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the sixth.
Gustin did not allow a hit until pinch hitter Adam Ebling blasted a solo homer over the fence in left field to lead off the seventh. It was Ebling’s fourth at-bat of the season.
Gustin said he was aware of his no-hit attempt “but I didn’t think about it. But in the back of my mind, I knew I was throwing one.”
Gustin finished with a career-high eight strikeouts.
“Everything felt good,” Gustin said. “I felt good from the start. I had good catch play. Every off-speed was working well. I threw a couple of changeups that I’ve worked on the past couple weeks. It was a day when most things clicked.”
Hill said Gustin’s season turned when he pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings a week earlier in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
“I thought his coming-out party was last week against Cal Poly, and today he one-upped that performance,” Hill said. “He’s really coming of age. He’s maturing as a pitcher. You can’t say enough about how much he’s progressed. Him and (pitching) Coach (Mathew) Troupe have a really good thing going on. It was pretty awesome tonight.”
Alex Giroux allowed two hits before yielding to Connor Harrison with two outs in the eighth. Harrison earned the four-out save.
In the UH sixth, Tai Walton opened with a double to left and went to third on Jordan Donahue’s bunt single. Matt Miura then bunted back to the mound. Carmouche fielded the ball and fired to catcher Brennan Lambert, who tagged out Walton. Ben Zeigler-Namoa drew a walk to load the bases. Carmouche’s 0-2 pitch sailed past Lambert as Donahue scooted home with the game’s first run.
After Matt Wong struck out, Kyson Donahue hit a drive that struck the fence in left field to bring home Zeigler and Miura for a 3-0 lead.
“Fastball, fastball.” Donahue said. Carmouche “was attacking me with fastballs earlier in the game. I was ready for him my third at-bat. He was mixing it well with his fastball. His changeup was really good. He was attacking me more with heavy fastballs, so I was ready for it my third at-bat.”
It was another difficult setback for Carmouche, who fell to 0-5. Carmouche allowed five hits and three runs while walking one and striking out eight. He retired the first nine ’Bows before Miura singled to open the fourth.
“It’s really unfortunate we can’t seem to muster up enough on offense on the days he pitches,” said Tulane coach Jay Uhlman, referencing the average of 2.83 runs of support for Carmouche. “He’s a warrior. He’s competitive. He’s got good pitches. I feel bad for him. He emptied the tank. He had nothing to show for it.”
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