Hawaii breaks out the bats to even series against No. 15 UCSB

HONOLULU – Put the brooms away. The bats are out.

After dropping a 2-1 contest the night before, the Hawai’i baseball team caught fire offensively to even its Big West series against No. 15 UC Santa Barbara with a 15-7 win before a sold-out crowd at Les Murakami Stadium Saturday night.

The Rainbow Warriors (13-5 overall, 2-3 Big West) tallied 16 total hits to set up the rubber game for the series victory Sunday. First pitch is slated for 1:05 p.m.

Itsuki Takemoto led the way at the plate with a 3-for-5 performance that included a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to give Hawai’i a 9-3 lead. He finished the night with four total RBIs.

Jared Quandt was also solid with a 3-for-5 day at the plate with three RBIs and three runs scored.

Ben Ziegler-Namoa, Elijah Ickes, Kamana Nahaku and Draven Nushida all recorded two hits apiece to round out the offense.

Three pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts, led by Isaiah Magdaleno’s six in three innings to earn the save. Liam O’Brien threw five strikeouts in four innings to start the game while Freddy Rodriguez picked up his second win of the season in two innings pitched.