Hawaii baseball flashes left-handed strength

Another night, another left-handed compliment and complement.

Left-hander Randy Abshier pitched a one-hitter over six innings and left-swinging Kyson Donahue smacked a grand slam to power the Hawaii baseball team to a 7-1 victory over Tulane at Les Murakami Stadium.

A crowd of 3,061 saw Abshier nearly match left-handed teammate Harry Gustin, who allowed one hit over seven innings in Friday night’s opener of the three-game series. Abshier did not relinquish a hit until shortstop Gavin Schulz’s one-out single to center in the sixth inning.

“I knew in the fifth inning, I looked at the board, and I was like, ‘I could go after (Gustin), I could chase this one,’” Abshier recalled of the no-hit bid. “There was a little inner dugout, a little fight right there. I liked it.”

In a season-high six innings, Abshier struck out eight, also his best as a ’Bow. The Arizona transfer threw strikes on 62 of 90 pitches, including first-pitch strikes to 12 of the first 18 batters he faced. In his past two starts, Abshier has a 1.64 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and average of 9.82 strikeouts per nine innings.

Abshier said his full menu of pitches was working. “Fastball up in the zone was probably the best pitch we’ve had,” Abshier said. “We saw (Friday) with Gus. They just couldn’t get to it. I think Gus set the tone with the offspeed (on Friday). I was able to throw the fastball up. I think that was the success of the night.”

UH coach Rich Hill said: “As long as you can throw the curveball and changeup as a left-hander and have enough zip on a fastball, you can really be competitive.”

Donahue provided the big hit for the second night in a row. On Friday, his two-run double accounted for two-thirds of the ’Bows’ runs. On Saturday, he pulled a towering drive over the fence in right field for his first career grand slam. Donahue, a Punahou graduate, transferred from Arizona in August 2021.

“He’s locked in right now,” Hill said. “He’s hitting the ball the other way. When they choose to challenge him inside, he’s able to turn on one. He’s hitting the ball to all fields. He’s extremely confident right now.”

The ’Bows parlayed Tulane first baseman Brady Marget’s error into a three-run fifth to extend their lead to 7-0.

Matt Wong walked and Kyson Donahue blooped a single to center to start the UH fifth. Both runners advanced on a passed ball. One out later, Marget made a diving stop of Stone Miyao’s grounder. Marget attempted to throw home, but the ball slipped out of his right hand and skipped into the Green Wave’s dugout as Wong and Donahue scored. Miyao, who was awarded second on the dead-ball error, then stole third and one out later scored on Sean Rimmer’s sacrifice fly to center.

In the third, shortstop Jordan Donahue and first baseman Ben Zeigler-Namoa both singled to center. After Jared Quandt struck out, Wong drew a six-pitch walk to load the bases. Then left-swinging Kyson Donahue smacked a towering drive over the fence in right field for a grand slam and a 4-0 UH lead.

“I got a changeup,” Donahue said. “I saw a pitch I could hit. I was trying to elevate the ball in that situation to get an RBI. I got a pretty good swing on it.”

The umpires awarded the ’Bows a 1-0 lead, then retracted it, in a controversial first inning. Wong hit a two-out single, then went to third on Kyson Donahue’s ground single and right fielder Teo Banks’ ensuing error. On Chandler Welch’s first pitch to Jacob Igawa, home plate umpire Ryan Bleiberg called a balk, apparently enabling Wong to score and Donahue to advance to third. But after a discussion with Tulane coach Jay Uhlman, Bleiberg ruled that the hitch in Welch’s windup did not constitute a balk. The runners returned to their original bases, and Welch induced Igawa to hit a grounder for the third out.

UH improved to 11-8 with its third consecutive victory. The Green Wave fell to 6-17.

The series concludes with today’s matinee. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.