Hawai’i holds off late HPU rally to complete collection of local wins

HONOLULU – Battle to the end. 

The University of Hawai’i baseball team officially secured victories over each of the local Division II opponents on Tuesday evening, outlasting Hawaii Pacific inside Les Murakami Stadium, 10-8. Freddy Rodriguez picked up the victory for the Rainbow Warriors while redshirt freshman Ethan Thomas recorded his first career save in a game that UH head coach Rich Hill used nine different pitchers in. 

Jacob Vanek was charged with the loss for the Sharks, allowing five runs on four hits and a walk in one inning of work. HPU used seven pitchers of their own, seeing the back end of the bullpen find success with three straight scoreless frames to close out the night as the Division II visitors made their lone visit to Les Murakami Stadium this season. 

Hawai’i tallied 10 hits throughout the night, seeing Ben Zeigler-Namoa, Matt Miura and reigning Golden Spikes National Player of the Week Kamana Nahaku record two hits each as the Rainbow Warriors won for the ninth time in the last 10 outings. Shortstop Jordan Donahue went 1-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in and a pair of runs scored while Draven Nushida added an RBI double for his lone hit in three at-bats. 

HPU showed off its dynamic offense with 14 hits spread across the nine innings, coming back multiple times to make the Division I Rainbow Warriors sweat it out through a game that ran for three hours. Leadoff hitter Kan Taguchi set the table well for the Sharks, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and another batted in. Third baseman Tyler Arnold also went 3-for-4, showing off his power with a loud three-run homerun in the top of the second inning and again with an RBI double in the top of the eighth. 

Former Rainbow Warrior and current HPU star Bronson Rivera enjoyed his return to his old home stadium, turning in a 2-for-4 night at the plate with two runs scored and two more runs batted in. The left fielder, who is currently tied for the most homers in a single season in Sharks’ history, was held without an extra base hit but did reach base a third time with a walk. 

Hawai’i jumped on HPU starting pitcher Jacob Vanek from the very beginning, seeing the first five batters reach and three runs home before finally making the first out with an RBI sacrifice fly from Nushida. Kedren Kinzie tacked on the final run of the opening frame for the Rainbow Warriors with an RBI groundout to shortstop before Vanek got Aidan Kuni to fly out to end the first with the Sharks down 5-0. 

HPU was able to fight back in the top of the second after back-to-back singles and an error by new UH pitcher Danny Veloz put runners on second and third with nobody out. Arnold crushed a no-doubt homer a few pitches later to bring the Sharks back within a pair, 5-3.  

After trading zeroes, HPU allowed UH to tack on another run in the bottom half of the third when Zeigler-Namoa lifted an RBI sac fly to short left field that barely scored Miura from third on a bang-bang play at the plate. The Rainbow Warriors added three more runs to seemingly break the game open in the fourth, but a Bronson Rivera single to center field plated two runners and brought the Sharks back within striking distance, 9-5. 

The sides held each other scoreless over the next two full frames before HPU made one final comeback push with three runs in the top of the eighth inning, but the magic in Mānoa runs into the ninth for only one team – and they don green. 

Ethan Thomas slammed the door shut with two scoreless innings of work, getting the Rainbow Warriors out of the jam in the eighth before a dominant ninth inning saw him sit down the Sharks in order. The redshirt freshman tallied four strikeouts and allowed only one baserunner in his two frames, getting his first college save as Hawai’i took down Hawaii Pacific, 10-8. 

The Sharks (19-15) return to action on Friday, playing host to the University of Hawai’i-Hilo for a four-game weekend PacWest series. The Rainbow Warriors (21-6) will kick off a three-game tilt with Long Beach State on Friday, hosting the Dirtbags before heading to the continent for a critical California road trip.