Hawaii wasn’t about to waste a second pitching gem.
Senior Kyle Von Ruden, backed by a triple play, tossed 72⁄3 scoreless innings to get Hawaii back on the winning track with a 4-0 victory over Chicago State on Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium.
The Rainbow Warriors (7-12) snapped a six-game losing streak before a crowd of 1,390, who witnessed a rare triple play in the seventh inning.
Joe Baier had the bases loaded and nobody out when he hit a soft liner to shortstop that was snared at the shoestrings by Johnny Weeks, who was filling in for a sick Jacob Sheldon-Collins.
Weeks quickly went to second to double up a runner and Josh Rojas threw to third to nail Andy Gertonson to complete the play.
It’s the sixth triple play in college baseball this season.
“He got jammed a little bit and I think the runners on second and third got confused and the ball hung up in the air for me,” Weeks said. “You can tell it boosted all of our confidence. The dugout demeanor was a little different and getting this shutout win is a big thing.”
It helped Von Ruden get out of the inning after giving up three of his six hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five before leaving with two outs in the eighth inning.
Von Ruden (2-1) worked at least 72⁄3 innings for the fourth consecutive start and lowered his ERA to 2.95.
“We didn’t have the offense before, so we know we had to come out and pitch, but they showed up today and helped me out,” Von Ruden said. “A triple play sure helped me out too.”
Hawaii’s two starters in the series — Von Ruden and Brendan Hornung — have not allowed an earned run in 16 innings. Hornung dropped his ERA to 2.29, giving UH a solid 1-2 combination at the top of its rotation.
The big problem against the Cougars (5-11) has been at the plate. UH had just six hits in the second game and eight total in the series.
“We’re not getting enough good swings, but fortunately we have the pitching to keep us in games while we work through it,” Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “These guys will work through it because they work relentlessly. I think we’re pressing a little bit and you can see that there’s a lot of panic in our at-bats.”
Matt LoCoco singled twice and Alex Fitchett was 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and scored a run.
Hawaii ran its scoreless innings streak against the Cougars to 12 before Fitchett came through with Hawaii’s first hit with a runner on base in 14 tries.
Dropped down in the order to sixth for the first time this season, Fitchett drilled a triple past the diving attempt by David Wright in center to bring home Marcus Doi, who reached base on a wild pitch in the fourth inning.
Kekai Rios followed with a single into right to bring in Fitchett for a 2-0 UH lead.
“We definitely had to prove something and we went out and did that today,” said Fitchett, who crushed a fly ball to left in the eighth inning that held up against strong tradewinds blowing in. “I was able to get my foot down, get the lower half out of the way and I saw the ball a lot better.”
Hawaii tacked on a third run in the fifth inning when Baier dropped a fly ball in left center, allowing Weeks to reach second with two outs.
Eric Ramirez snapped an 0-for-13 skid, turning on an inside fastball from Justin Wyant to pull a double into right field to drive in Weeks.
“He just continues to give good at-bats,” Trapasso said of Weeks. “He gave us the best at-bat of the season on the ball that was dropped with the way he just worked at it, so we’re making progress. We go E-Ram to get a good swing on the ball and (Fitchett) was better.”
Weeks added a fielder’s choice RBI in the seventh inning for Hawaii’s fourth run.
Casey Ryan allowed a walk and hit a batter in the ninth inning and was relieved by Matt Valencia, who got Chicago State to line into a double play to end it.
Hawaii 4, Chicago State 0
| COUGARS |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
BB |
SO |
| Russell ss |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Sullivan 3b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Gertonson 1b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Hunt dh |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Salazar c |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Baier lf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Thomas rf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Wright cf |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Cole cf |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Grosse 2b |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| TOTALS |
30 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
| RAINBOW WARRIORS |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
BB |
SO |
| LoCoco cf |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Weeks ss |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Ramirez 1b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Doi dh |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Lopez 3b |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Fitchett rf |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Rios c |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Baldwin lf |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Rojas 2b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| TOTALS |
31 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
| Chicago St. (5-11) |
000 |
000 |
|
000 |
|
— |
0 |
6 |
1 |
| Hawaii (7-12) |
000 |
210 |
|
10x |
|
— |
4 |
6 |
0 |
E–Baier. DP–Hawaii. Triple play-Hawaii.LOB–Chicago State 5, Hawaii 5. 2B-Grosse, Ramirez. 3B–Fitchett. HBP–Sullivan. SB–Gertonson, LoCoco, Fitchett, Baldwin. CS–LoCoco.
| CHICAGO STATE |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Wyant (L, 1-4) |
6 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
| Caulfield |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Silva |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Hawaii |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Von Ruden (W, 2-1) |
7 2/3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
| Culp |
1/3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Ryan |
1/3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Valencia (S, 2) |
2/3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
WP–Wyant, Caulfield 2. HBP–by Ryan (Sullivan).
Umpires–(Plate): Ruben Candelaria. (First): Bob Williams. (Third): Kevin Daugherty. T–2:19. A–1,390.
