The temperature was in the mid-90s, the Hawaii baseball offense was in a deep freeze.
The Rainbow Warriors managed two hits — none in the first six innings — against three Cal State Fullerton pitchers in Saturday’s 9-1 loss at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, Calif.
“Right away, that lefty kept us off balance,” UH coach Rich Hill said of Jayden Harper, who exited after pitching five no-hit innings. “He did a great job with the fastball and mixing speeds. We just didn’t have an answer on the offensive side.”
Matthew Bardowell and Andrew Kirchner led the Titans’ 14-hit offense. The Titans also drew four walks, were struck by three pitches and prospered from three UH errors.
Before a crowd of 853, the Rainbow Warriors fell to 30-18 overall and 13-13 in the Big West with four regular-season games remaining. The ’Bows and UC San Diego are tied for fifth place. They meet in a three-game series this coming week at Les Murakami Stadium.
Five teams advance to the Big West Tournament in two weeks. One of those teams will be third-place CSUF, which clinched a spot while improving to 27-23 and 17-9.
Despite winning Friday’s opener of this three-game series, Hill shuffled the lineup. For most of the season, second baseman Shunsuke Sakaino or center fielder Matthew Miura hit in the leadoff spot. First baseman Ben Zeigler-Namoa, who usually hits in the middle of the order, batted first on Saturday. Sakaino dropped to fifth, right fielder Jared Quandt moved to third, and third baseman Elijah Ickes batted cleanup.
“Tried to get Ben going, tried to get Shunsuke going,” Hill said of restructuring the lineup. Moved up (switch hitter) Quandt against a left-handed pitcher. The same with (the right-swinging) Ickes. I thought it was a good idea. Just trying to get a spark offensively. We’ve had a hard time scoring runs.”
This season, only starting pitcher Mikiah Negrete and closer Andrew Wright have set roles on the Titans’ staff. Harper’s two previous starts were in the “opener” role to an ensemble rotation. Harper, who has averaged 11⁄3 innings in his 12 appearances, was expected to yield to a series of relievers after a couple of innings. After issuing a one-out walk to Miura in the first inning, Harper retired the next 17 ’Bows. He exited ahead of the sixth inning when his odometer reached 63 pitches (43 of them for strikes).
Ryan Faulks allowed the ’Bows’ first hit — Ickes’ two-out single in the seventh. Ickes, who returned to the lineup on Friday after missing 18 games because of a hand injury, then was thrown out at second trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt.
Zeigler-Namoa’s solo shot in the ninth — his fifth homer of the season — accounted for the ’Bows’ only run.
Kirchner, who averages 1.3 RBIs per game, had a run-scoring double in the first inning and a two-run triple in the eighth. Bardowell also drove in three runs, two of them on an opposite-field drive over the right-center fence in the sixth inning.
UH starter Sebastian Gonzalez struggled, surrendering eight hits and four earned runs in 41⁄3 innings. “He’s a tough kid,” Hill said of Gonzalez. “He can work himself out of jams pretty good. I just don’t want to get into jams.”
The series is tied at 1, with today’s finale beginning at 10 a.m. Right-hander Cooper Walls will start for the ’Bows. Hill said top relievers Freddy Rodriguez, Ethan Thomas and Isaiah Magdaleno will be available to pitch.
“We’re ready,” Hill said.
