The Hawaii baseball team could not catch 13th-ranked North Carolina State nor beat the clock in Sunday’s 10-8 loss at Les Murakami Stadium.
The ’Bows scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to close to 10-8, but the game was called after that inning because of the Wolfpack’s travel plans.
The crowd of 2,086 voiced their displeasure at the abbreviation.
“I’m with the fans,” UH coach Rich Hill said. “I thought we had the momentum going back. (Reliever) Itsuki (Takemoto) was going to come in. You gotta get that inning in before 4 o’clock. It’s a hard stop. And in those situations when you’re playing with a travel curfew, it can work just as well for you as it can against you. No excuses.”
Earlier in the three-game series, the ’Bows were alerted to the Wolfpack’s 7 p.m. flight. During the rules meeting at home plate ahead of Sunday’s first pitch, both head coaches agreed that no inning would start after 4 p.m. The game was officially called at 3:58 p.m. when UH right fielder Sean Rimmer grounded out to end the eighth.
“I was ready,” said Takemoto, who was set to sprint to the mound. “I knew about the time. (Hill) said: ‘just throw strikes. Get ready.’”
The Wolfpack exited with two victories in the three-game series to improve to 4-2. The ’Bows fell to 3-4.
Rimmer, who struggled in the first series last week, staked the Bows to a 4-3 lead with RBI doubles in the second and fourth innings. “It felt really good this weekend,” said Rimmer, who hit a home run on Saturday. “It feels every year of my college career, even in high school, it takes some at bats to get going, to get comfortable. I have to figure out how teams are approaching me. I figured it out this weekend.”
Rimmer, who went from an upright stance in fall training to a wider one, belted a slider for Saturday’s homer. “They stopped throwing that,” said Rimmer, whose two doubles on Sunday were off fastballs.
Hill said Rimmer has “managed the strike zone better. Great job. He was our instant offense early on this game.”
UH freshman Isaiah Magdaleno was navigating through four innings with a fastball that was touching 91 mph as well as complementary curveballs and changeups. “We decided to send him out in the fifth,” Hill said.
But Magdaleno yielded a leadoff double to Garrett Pennington to open the NC State fifth. Then catcher Jason Cozart smacked a drive that struck the scoreboard behind the center-field fence. After Alec Makarewicz reached on an infield single to deep short, Magdaleno was pulled. Relievers Tyler Dyball and Sebastian Gonzalez allowed five more runs in the seven-run inning to boost the Wolfpack’s lead to 10-4.
The Bows chipped away in the seventh with Matthew Miura scoring on a wild pitch and Stone Miyao’s run-scoring single to left.
In the UH eighth, Austin Machado had a one-out single and, an out later, came around on Miura’s triple to the center-field fence. Miura scored the ’Bows’ eighth run when shortstop Brandon Butterworth fielded Ben Zeigler-Namoa’s grounder but threw wildly to first.
“It was kind of like the 2-minute drill in football,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “I’m telling the umpires, ‘we gotta go, we gotta go.’ Everyone was playing better.”
Rimmer said the ’Bows were cognizant of the deadline.
“The sixth inning, when it was 3:20, we realized 4 was coming fast,” Rimmer said. “On defense, we were in and out as fast as possible. We weren’t throwing the ball around. We knew it would come down to when it did.”
The Wolfpack amassed 15 hits, with each starter in the lineup getting at least one hit. For UH, Miura went 3-for-5. Zeigler-Namoa drew four walks and scored three runs.
“Part of their game plan was to pitch away from me, particularly if no one was on base,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “I’m seeing the ball well now, and taking good swings. That’s what happens when you get four walks.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
NO. 13 NC STATE 10, HAWAII 8
WOLFPACK AB R H BI BB SO
Soles rf 4 2 2 0 1 0
Hogue lf 5 0 2 2 0 1
Pennington 1b 4 1 2 1 0 1
Cozart c 5 1 1 2 0 4
Makarewicz 3b 4 2 2 1 1 0
Serrano III cf 3 2 2 0 0 0
Lanphere dh 3 0 1 2 0 0
Nixon 2b 4 1 2 2 0 0
Butterworth ss 4 1 1 0 0 1
TOTALS 36 10 15 10 2 7
RAINBOW WARRIORS AB R H BI BB SO
Ickes 3b 4 0 1 1 1 1
Machado dh 4 1 2 0 1 0
Duarte c 4 0 1 0 1 1
Miura cf 5 3 3 1 0 0
Ziegler-Namoa 1b 1 3 0 0 4 0
Rimmer rf 5 1 2 2 0 1
K. Donahue lf 2 0 0 1 1 1
Miyao 2b 4 0 1 1 0 1
J. Donahue ss 3 0 0 0 1 0
TOTALS 32 8 10 6 9 5
NC State (4-2) 021 070 00x — 10 15 2
Hawaii (3-4) 020 200 22x — 8 10 0
E–Buttwerworth 2. DP–NC State 2. LOB–
NC State 7, Hawaii 10. 2B–Pennington;
Rimmer. 2B–Miura. HR–Cozart. HBP–Serrano III. SH–Lanphere. SF–Pennington;
Donahue, K. SB–Serrano III. CS–Nixon.
NC STATE IP H R ER BB SO
Marohn 31
3 4 4 3 5 1
Andrews (W, 1-0) 2
3 2 0 0 2 0
Van Dam 32
3 3 3 3 2 4
Fanning 0 1 1 0 0 0
Smith (S, 1) 1
3 0 0 0 0 0
HAWAII IP H R ER BB SO
Magdaleno (L, 1-1) 4 11 6 6 1 5
Dyball 1
3 3 3 3 0 0
Gonzalez 1 1 1 1 1 1
Harrison 2
3 0 0 0 0 0
Veloz 1 0 0 0 0 0
Gotschall 1 0 0 0 0 1
WP–Van Dam. HBP–by Gonzalez (Serrano III). BK–Gonzalez.
Umpires—(Plate): Chris Schultz. (First):
Chrisopher Gonzalez. (Third): Troy Hodack.
T—2:53. A—3,526
SATURDAY’S GAME
HAWAII 7, NO. 13 NC STATE 5
WOLFPACK AB R H BI BB SO
Soles rf 4 0 0 1 0 3
Pennington 1b 4 1 2 0 0 1
Hogue lf 4 0 1 0 0 1
Makarewicz 3b 4 2 2 1 0 2
Cozart c 4 0 2 0 0 0
Serrano III cf 3 0 1 2 0 2
Bechtel dh 3 1 1 1 0 2
Lanphere ph 1 0 0 0 0 0
Heavner 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1
Nixon ph 1 0 0 0 0 0
Butterworth ss 4 1 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 35 5 10 5 0 12
RAINBOW WARRIORS AB R H BI BB SO
Ickes 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2
Machado dh 4 0 1 0 1 1
Calderson ph 0 1 0 0 0 0
Duarte c 2 1 0 0 2 0
Miura cf 5 1 0 0 0 3
Zeigler-Namoa 1b 5 0 2 2 0 0
Rimmer rf 3 2 1 1 0 2
Quandt rf 0 0 0 0 1 0
Miyao 2b 4 1 0 0 1 1
K. Donahue lf 3 0 0 0 1 1
Nahaku lf 0 0 0 0 0 0
J. Donahue ss 3 1 2 2 1 0
TOTALS 33 7 6 5 7 10
NC State (3-2) 000 012 110 — 5 10 2
Hawaii (3-3) 020 010 04x — 7 6 2
E–Makarewicz, Fritton; Ickes, Rimmer.
LOB–NC State 5, UH 12. 2B–Pennington,
Butterworth. HR–Bechtel; Rimmer. HBP–
Ickes, Duarte, Rimmer. SF–Soles, Serrano
III. SB–J. Donahue.
NC STATE IP H R ER BB SO
Fritton 32
3 2 2 0 2 5
Lucas 4 3 3 2 2 4
Consiglio (L, 0-1) 0 0 1 0 1 0
Dudan 1
3 1 1 0 2 1
HAWAII IP H R ER BB SO
Abshier 5 5 2 2 0 11
Harrison 1 1 1 0 0 1
Veloz 11
3 4 2 1 0 0
Tenn (W, 2-0) 2
3 0 0 0 0 0
Takemoto (S, 2) 1 0 0 0 0 0
HBP—by Fritton (Ickes), by Fritton (Duarte), by
Fritton (Rimmer). WP—Fritton. BK—Abshier.
Umpires—(Plate): Troy Hodack. (First):
Chris Schultz. (Third): Christopher Gonzalez. T—3:15. A—3,147.
