CSUN steals Senior Night win in Hawai’i behind Christopher’s complete game

HONOLULU – On a night meant to celebrate 17 seniors from the University of Hawai’i, it was a CSUN senior that stole the show.

Matadors’ senior right-hander Adam Christopher (4-3) spun a gem in his final collegiate outing, dealing out 120 pitches and giving up just one run on six hits in a complete game victory to help CSUN (25-28, 12-18 Big West) spoil Hawai’i’s Senior Night celebrations on Friday, 8-1.

Christopher struck out 12 batters and only walked one, limiting a Rainbow Warrior offense that had put up 11 runs on 19 hits in the previous two days against the Matadors to a single score in the 5th inning and six total hits.

With two victories already in hand against CSUN, Hawai’i (27-22, 16-14 Big West) clinched the fourth seed in next week’s conference tournament entering Friday night and did not have a chance to move up or down in the final standings regardless of the result in the season finale against the Matadors.

The Rainbow Warriors took the opportunity to put a plethora of the 17 departing seniors on display at Les Murakami Stadium one last time, getting a majority of the group into the game for at least one full inning.

“Senior Night is always an emotional night,” head coach Rich Hill said following the Rainbow Warrior regular season wrapping up. “Tonight, we had an opportunity to showcase [the seniors] and they had an opportunity to showcase themselves in front of family, friends and the great fans of Hawai’i.”

Hawai’i’s Class of 2026 seniors pose together at Les Murakami Stadium one last time. | Photo Credit: Riley Guillermo, HSRN

Despite having seven senior options to start, standout freshman hurler Brody Martin-Grudzielanek was tabbed to take the ball to begin on Friday night. The 6-foot-5 righty pitched a pair of scoreless innings, facing the minimum six batters and picking up a strikeout before handing the ball over to sophomore Grant Garman in the third.

Garman was greeted by a solo homerun from CSUN’s Will Linberg, putting the Matadors ahead for the first time all weekend after being held scoreless over the first two games of the series. The sophomore southpaw settled in afterwards, only walking one while retiring the other six batters that he faced in his two innings of work.

Liam O’Brien was the first of five seniors to pitch for Hawai’i on the night, giving up a run on a hit and two walks while striking out one in his lone inning of work. Saul Soto followed, struggling slightly with command and soft contact luck as he allowed three runs in 0.2 innings of action.

Dylan Waite, a Baldwin HS alum from Wailuku, Maui, dazzled in his 1.1 innings of work, getting out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the top of the sixth before striking out the side in the seventh to match his career high with three strikeouts out of the bullpen.

Josiah Shipley was tabbed for three more runs (2 ER) in the top of the eighth after hitting a batter, walking another and giving up two base knocks in 0.2 innings. Zacary Tenn helped extinguish the flames in the eighth, inducing a flyout to end the inning before giving way to the final senior of the night, Ryan Inouye.

Inouye, a side-winding right-hander from Kailua who spent the past three seasons at Division II as the closer for Hawaii Pacific, gave up a single immediately after entering but recovered quickly with his lone strikeout of the night and wrapped up the 9th without any damage.

Senior outfielder Gabe Wright had the lone RBI on the night for Hawai’i, driving in fellow senior Taylor Takata in the bottom of the 5th with an infield single. Takata enjoyed an excellent final night in the Les, going 3-for-3 while scoring the lone run for the Rainbow Warriors.

Hawai’i INF Taylor Takata crosses home plate on Senior Night. | Photo Credit: Riley Guillermo, HSRN

With a spot in the opening round elimination game already locked in, Hawai’i awaits an opponent with the fifth and final spot in the Big West Championship still up for grabs. Cal State Fullerton needs a victory on Saturday against UC San Diego to clinch the last invite to the postseason party.

A loss by the Titans would result in a tie in the standings between CSUF and UC Davis, resulting in the Aggies clinching the final spot in the Big West Championship by virtue of tiebreakers.

Hawai’i will take Saturday off for the school’s graduation before getting back to practice on Sunday. The Rainbow Warriors leave for the continent on Monday and will have time for a practice on Tuesday before kicking off the 2026 Big West Championship in Irvine, California on Wednesday.

“We’ll be ready,” said Hill ahead of the postseason. “We’ve got a really good schedule that just worked out … so yeah, we’ll be ready.”