In his last at-bat, Hawaii catcher DallasJ Duarte knocked UC San Diego out of sole possession of first place.
With two outs in the eighth inning, Duarte laced an 0-2 pitch to right for a double to drive in Jared Quandt in the Rainbow Warriors’ 1-0 victory over the Tritons at Les Murakami Stadium.
A crowd of 1,409 saw Harry Gustin, Alex Giroux and Harrison Bodendorf combine on a four-hitter for the ’Bows’ second shutout of the season. The Bows improved to 15-12 overall and 5-5 in the Big West. The Tritons, who are 21-11 and 10-3, dropped into a first-place tie with Cal State Fullerton.
UCSD coach Eric Newman expressed disappointment in the offensive output after the Tritons averaged 7.3 runs in their first 31 games. The Tritons struck out 10 times, including four in a row against Gustin. Newman also was miffed that Ryan Forcucci, who allowed one hit in three innings, walked Quandt on four pitches to open the UH eighth.
UH shortstop Jordan Donahue’s sacrifice on a 2-0 pitch advanced Quandt into scoring position.
“That guy (has a) 94-mile-an-hour fastball, and (Donohue) did just everything perfect,” UH coach Rich Hill said. “Very good mechanics on the bunt, which allowed us to get to Dallas.”
After Ben Zeigler-Namoa struck out, the right-swinging Duarte entered the batter’s box. He was hitless in his first three at-bats, striking out twice.
“I knew he had an electric fastball,” Duarte said of Forcucci. “I knew he had a plus slider. I was just staying on the fastball. And hoping I could get mine. God is good. God is great. He gave me a pitch to hit, and I did what I did. I just threw my hands at it. I trusted my hands. I saw a fastball. I threw my hands. I saw it land fair. My heart beat. I just wanted to pump up and look at my mom in the crowd.”
Quandt easily sprinted home.
“I can’t say enough about him,” Hill said of Duarte. “I love that kid. He’s such a gamer. (He was) really struggling.…Two strikeouts. Nothing is going right. He gets down 0-2, and stays with it, and stays with his plan. That was awesome to see.”
Bodendorf, a freshman left-hander, pitched the final two scoreless innings to improve to 3-1. There was some drama at the start of the ninth when Bodendorf went 3-0 to third baseman Matt Halbach, who has recorded exit velocities exceeding 100 mph this season.
“Falling behind 3-0 after we scored a run, that’s never what you want to do,” Bodendorf said. “Right when that happened, I was like, ‘I’m not letting him get on base. I’m not walking him on four pitches. I’m going to win the battle.’ And that’s what I ended up doing.”
Halbach fouled off the next five pitches before taking a called third strike on a changeup that crept under the ceiling of the zone.
“That guy is one of the best players in the league,” Hill said of Halbach. “He’s a very good hitter. Really coming into his own. He was on the changeup. He was on the fastball. I couldn’t see it. It looked like a high strike, which was good. That umpire (Jeff Cluff) had been calling that all night. Very consistent.”
Bodendorf found early success with a fastball and changeup this season. On Friday night, he benefited from his newly polished slider.
“It was big to have a third pitch,” Bodendorf said. “People know, obviously, my changeup is my best pitch. The more they’re starting to look at it, the more I can throw the slider to throw them off is going to help a lot. That’s kind of what I had today.”
Bodendorf said it took “messing with grips” until he felt comfortable throwing the slider. “It was a lot of work in the bullpen,” he said. “That’s kind of my main focus now is trying to get my slider dialed in.”
In another impressive appearance, Gustin allowed three hits in 5 2/3 innings. His ERA is 1.84 in his past five outings. Giroux worked out of a two-on, two-out situation in the sixth inning.
“I love my staff,” said Duarte, who twice threw out Patrick Hackworth trying to advance to third base on bounced pitches. “Seriously, I love my staff. They compete. They empty the tank every time. I can’t ask for much more from them. They’re unreal.”
