Jacob Shanks hit a two-run homer and four UC Riverside pitchers combined to strand 12 Hawaii runners in Friday’s 3-2 victory at the Riverside (Calif.) Sports Complex.
The Rainbow Warriors entered the three-game series having won four in a row and seven of the past eight. But they could not overcome a 3-0 deficit punctuated when Shanks hit his first homer of the season in the third inning.
“He just got a leverage-count fastball and banged it,” UH coach Rich Hill said of Shanks’ drive over the wall in left field.
The ’Bows did not redeem several opportunities to take the lead or tighten the gap. Theys struck out nine times with runners in scoring position.
“It was one of those things with baseball,” Hill said. “Those guys were pitching with guys on base all night from the stretch. We left 12 guys on base. How many times we struck out with runners in scoring position. You’re not going to win too many games doing that.”
The hard-luck Highlanders entered 7-29 overall and 1-14 against Big West opponents. Their pitching was so inconsistent head coach Justin Johnson went with an “opener” approach in which reliever Cruz Barrios started. The intent was for Barrios to go as long as possible, then cede to situational specialists. Barrios pitched three scoreless innings, walking one and striking out four.
The Highlanders took a 1-0 lead without a hit in the second inning. Anthony Mata walked and, two outs later, advanced to second when Nick Poss walked. Mata scored all the way from second on Harry Gustin’s wild pitch.
In the third, Marcellus Pearson opened with a double. Shanks followed with his home run.
In the UH fourth, Kyson Donahue and Jacob Igawa hit back-to-back singles to oust Barrios. Corbin Barker then struck out Zach Storbakken and Jared Quandt. Ben Zeigler-Namoa blasted a drive to left that sprawling outfielder Jacob Badawi caught for the third out.
The ’Bows closed to 3-1 when DallasJ Duarte was struck by a Barker pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh. But Jake Debbs replaced Barker, and struck out the next three ’Bows.
Pinch hitter Bronson Rivera’s run-scoring single to left cut the deficit to 3-2 in the eighth. But Tyler Frazier induced Duarte to pop out to short to end the UH threat.
Matt Wong walked to lead off the UH ninth, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. But Frazier got the final three outs to earn his second save.
“That was pretty much the story of the night,” said Hill, whose ’Bows fell to 20-14 and 9-7 in the Big West. “You’ve got to tip your cap to those pitchers pitching out of jams for Riverside. Give credit to where credit is due. That one inning, bases loaded and no outs, that’s three strikeouts with our best guys. No excuses, we just got beat.”
Randy Abshier, who pitched a two-hit shutout in his last outing, will start for the ’Bows tonight. Harrison Bodendorf is expected to start in Sunday’s series finale. Last week, Bodendorf relieved on Friday against Long Beach State and started two days later. Hill said Bodendorf is considered a Friday closer, and he would have been used if the ’Bows had either tied or taken the lead in the ninth.
Hill also praised reliever Tyler Dyball for getting out of a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth, and Alex Giroux pitching two scoreless innings. “Alex didn’t walk anybody,” Hill said of Giroux, who threw strikes on 21 of 28 pitches. “I thought he was really good tonight.”
