Hawai’i shuts down Wichita State bats on Les Murakami Hall of Fame Night

HONOLULU – You’ve got to put on a show with Les and the legends in the house.

Behind an electrifying performance from the pitching staff and a jolt of offense from the jump, the University of Hawai’i baseball team held up its end of the bargain on Les Murakami Hall of Fame Night with a 4-2 win over storied rival Wichita State (4-2) on Friday evening.

Junior right-hander Hekili Robello (2-0) picked up his second win in as many starts this season, spinning 6.0 innings of two-run ball (1 ER) while allowing four hits, walking one and striking out nine.

“He was, again, lights out,” head coach Rich Hill said of Robello’s second straight sweet six-inning showing. “You notice he’s in an 0-2 count almost all the time. So you talk about first pitch strikes, mixing the slider and then he’s also got a changeup … he just fills up the zone. It’s a unique [arm slot], guys have a hard time with it.”

The Big Island fireballer turned it over to the bullpen for the final three frames, watching as Tsubasa Tomii, Saul Soto and John Alkire II combined for 3.0 innings of scoreless work to lock down the win. The trio of relievers allowed two total baserunners and only one hit in their action on Friday, combining for 42 pitches total to record the final nine outs.

Hawai’i (5-1) did all of its scoring in the opening inning, posting a four-spot in their first chance of the night again Shockers RHP Brady Hamilton. The first four batters reached base for the Rainbow Warriors before Evan Rolbiecki’s RBI groundout mercifully gave the first out of the bottom of the 1st for Wichita State.

Kamana Nahaku helped the Rainbow Warriors tack on two more runs before the end of the first inning, roping a single between the shortstop and third baseman to score Kody Watanabe and Jake Redding. Tate Shimao tried to advance from first to third on the single but was gunned down for the final out of the frame.

Kamana Nahaku’s 2 RBI single in the bottom of the first inning brought home the final runs of the night for Hawai’i. | Photo: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Wichita State responded in the top of the 2nd with the help of a couple Hawai’i miscues, loading the bases with a leadoff single, a walk and an E4 before Kaleb Duncan tapped an RBI single into right to get the Shockers on the board and keep the bases juiced with nobody out.

An RBI groundout by Zeb Henry plated the second run for Wichita State, but more importantly helped Hekili Robello settle back in for the Rainbow Warriors. The junior right-hander bounced back to get Jaden Gustafson to pop out to the infield and struck out Jayson Jones to end the threat from the Shockers with UH still leading, 4-2.

“He’s just got ice in his veins, you know, the guts of a burglar,” Hill said of his starter’s resolve to get out of the 2nd-inning jam. “This environment can overwhelm some people … I mean, that’s [Rainbow Baseball] legends, that’s Coach Murakami, Coach Gene Stevenson. They’ve got the Hall of Fame blue jackets out here, a packed house screaming and he just went out there like it was another day at the park in Hilo. It was really fun to see. He’s got a great future.”

Robello would retire 11 Wichita batters in a row after allowing the two runs, finally seeing another Shocker reach base with two down in the bottom of the 5th when Jayson Jones smacked a single into right, but the UH starter got MJ Sweeney to ground out to second base the very next at-bat to end the frame.

The Hilo High product struck out the side in the top of the sixth, working around Owen Washburn’s one-out double to hand over a multi-run cushion to the ‘Bows bullpen.

Tomii twirled a scoreless 7th frame in his fourth outing of the young season, striking out one while showing off his funky spinning offspeed stuff for the fans in attendance. New Mexico State transfer Saul Soto spun a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th, delighting the crowd with a backwards K in his lone stanza of work.

Tsubasa Tomii pitched one scoreless inning with one strikeout as the first arm out of the bullpen. | Photo: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

RHP John Alkire II locked down the 9th for the Rainbow Warriors again, earning his second save of the season and sending fans home happy on Les Murakami Hall of Fame Night with a 4-2 win over the Shockers.

Brady Hamilton (1-1) took the loss despite going 7.0 innings, allowing the four 1st-inning runs and nothing more as he gave up seven hits, walked two batters, hit three more and struck out six.

Hawai’i and Wichita State return to action on Saturday for the third game of the four-game series with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m. HT.

UPDATE: Please note, Saturday’s game has postponed due to rain and will be made up on Sunday as the Rainbow Warriors and Shockers play a doubleheader. The first game will be 7 innings with first pitch set for 11 a.m. HT with a 9-inning game to follow afterwards.

The dugout greets the defense after getting out of the seventh inning unscathed. | Photo: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Ben Zeigler-Namoa was steady at first base and at the plate for Hawai’i, scoring the game’s first run while garnering two hits. | Photo: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Draven Nushida makes contact with a pitch against Wichita State. He was one of two players with multiple hits Friday night. | Photo: Michael Lasquero, HSRN