HONOLULU — When it comes to his favorite home runs of his career, Stone Miyao said that this had to be number one.

“Just happy we get to send the seniors home with a series sweep against Santa Barbara,” the ‘Bows second baseman said postgame. “It’s got to be [my favorite home run of my career], number one right here.”

The Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (29-20) used the two-run blast to right-center by Miyao in the bottom of the ninth to walk off the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (35-20), 13-11, and close out the year from Les Murakami Stadium Saturday night by completing the program’s first three-game sweep over the ‘Chos since 1988. 

‘Bows junior left-hander Connor Harrison got the nod for the home squad on senior night, just his second start in 25 appearances this season. 

Like Friday’s game, the Gauchos offense struck early against UH. With help from designated hitter Ivan Brethowr, who went deep to center in the top of the first, UCSB took the lead, 2-0. 

Hawai’i got a run back in the bottom of the frame, working the bases loaded with two outs before Sean Rimmer jumped on the first pitch he saw for an RBI infield single. 

The ‘Bows couldn’t tack on any more though, as Gauchos starter Mike Gutierrez struck out Tai Walton swinging to escape the jam with UC Santa Barbara still ahead. 

The visitors led off the top of the second with a single, but Harrison quickly got the next three batters in order to post his first zero of the night. 

Gutierrez worked quickly in the bottom of the second, retiring the ‘Bows in order to match his fellow southpaw’s work from the top half of the inning.

Jared Sundstrom led off the top of the third with a bloop single to center, but a strikeout on a bunted foul ball and infield pop-out quickly put two outs on the board for the Hawai’i defense.

After a lengthy game of cat-and-mouse between Sundstrom at first and Harrison on the bump, the lefty induced an inning-ending groundout to third base to post another scoreless frame for UH.

Stone Miyao worked a leadoff walk to begin the bottom of the third before swapping places with Jacob Igawa due to a fielder’s choice. A single, followed by a hotshot from Ben Ziegler-Namoa that snuck by the left fielder, brought home the tying and go-ahead runs. 

Rimmer brought Ziegler-Namoa around with an RBI double to left before scoring himself on a Walton single to center, extending the lead to 5-2 for the ‘Bows before the third finally ended. 

Harrison continued cruising along in the top of the fourth, retiring the first two batters with ease before a dropped third strike allowed a batter to reach and extend the inning. 

An infield single put two on with two out for the Gauchos, but Corey Nunez grounded out to end the inning and the threat by UCSB in the fourth.

The offensive explosion from the first two games of the series continued for the ‘Bows in the series finale. Hawai’i opened the inning with Dallas Duarte drawing a walk and a Miyao single to put runners on the corners with none out.

Igawa singled home Duarte before Ziegler-Namoa picked up another RBI with a single to right. A throwing error allowed the ‘Bows runners to advance to second and third with only one out and two runs home.

Next, Rimmer continued his big night, picking up his third hit of the evening and two more runs batted in with a double into the right-center gap, extending the lead to 9-2 for the ‘Bows after four innings. 

UC Santa Barbara wouldn’t let go easily, as the first three batters reached against new UH pitcher Dalton Renne to load the bases with none out to open the fifth. 

After a strikeout, an RBI single to the left side brought home a Gauchos run before LeTrey McCollum hit an opposite field two-run double to cut the UH lead to 9-5, ending Renne’s night.

Tyler Dyball entered in relief for Renne and Broc Mortensen hit a sacrifice fly to left that allowed one last run for the ‘Chos before Hawai’i finally escaped the inning still leading, 9-6.

The home squad couldn’t muster an answer in the bottom half of the fifth as the momentum started to shift in favor of the Gauchos. 

UCSB plated another pair of runs in the top of the sixth to pull within a run of the Rainbow Warriors after a Christian Kirtley RBI double, but Hawai’i got a huge answer in the bottom of the frame with two runs of their own. 

The rally was powered by an E1 from the Gauchos, a comebacker combined with a throw that sailed over the head of McCollum at first base to bring home a run on the play.

UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts was ejected after the play, arguing that the ball should have been called dead after hitting the batter off the bat. 

The umpires disagreed.

A safety squeeze one batter later plated an extra run for the ‘Bows, extending the lead back to three runs, 11-8. 

Hawai’i kept UC Santa Barbara off the board in the top of the seventh, snatching back more of the momentum as the Rainbow Warriors looked for a series sweep to cap off senior night and weekend as a whole. 

Dallas Duarte led off the bottom of the inning with an infield single and was followed by a Miyao walk to set up two on and none out as Jacob Igawa stepped to the plate and the ‘Chos went to the pen again.

Sam Whiting appeared for the second time in two nights for the Gauchos, getting a chance at redemption after a rough outing on Friday. 

Whiting got his redemption by getting Igawa to strike out swinging before Matt Wong hit into a 6-4-3, inning-ending double-play.

UC Santa Barbara brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the top of the eighth after a single to left and a hit-by-pitch put a pair of runners on against Dyball. Another hit batter loaded the bases for the Gauchos and ended Dyball’s night in favor of left-handed pitcher Tai Atkins. 

A ball into no-man’s land on the first base side plated a run for the ‘Chos before Mortensen brought home two more and tied the game at 11 with an RBI single to right. Atkins escaped the eighth with the game still tied, but once again the momentum had swung in favor of the visiting Gauchos. 

The ‘Bows couldn’t get anything going in the bottom of the eighth, but Atkins posted a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to keep it tied and give Hawai’i a chance to walk it off. 

Jordan Donahue led things off in the bottom of the ninth with a walk before Duarte moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. 

Stone Miyao left no doubt while finishing the job for the ‘Bows, crushing his second home run in two nights — and second of the season — to walk it off for Hawai’i on senior night, 13-11, and complete the sweep of the Gauchos. 

The visiting Gauchos used six pitchers in the loss, but JD Callahan was charged with the loss for UCSB. The ‘Chos entered the weekend with a chance at a partial share of the Big West crown.

The Gauchos needed a sweep to win the conference. Instead, the ‘Bows did some spring cleaning to end the season. 

Atkins earned his second win of the year, going 1.2 innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three to give UH a chance at a walk-off. 

Rimmer led the Rainbow Warriors offense, going 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. Miyao chipped in three hits while scoring three runs to go along with the two game-winning RBI. 

The ‘Bows offense tallied 15 hits on the night and 45 hits total through the three games against the Gauchos. Hawai’i averaged over 12 runs per game against UCSB, their best offensive output in a series this season. 

Following the game, Hawai’i baseball and fans honored five seniors who played their final game in a ‘Bows uniform, four with official senior night ceremonies while Matt Wong was recognized last year and returned for his final season of eligibility. 

Cameron Hagan, a 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher who went unrecruited out of high school, came to the ‘Bows back before the 2021 season after completing a year at Chemeketa Community College. The right-handed hurler has spent the past three seasons with the Rainbow Warriors, pitching 65.1 innings across 42 appearances and racking up 57 strikeouts in his career.

Zach Losey, another 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher for Hawai’i, came to the islands after four seasons at Ball State. The reliever made seven appearances for the ‘Bows and never recorded a loss in a Hawai’i uniform. 

Dalton Renne, the 6-foot-7 senior who had pitched earlier in the night, has spent the past three seasons with the ‘Bows after competing as a two-sport athlete at Chemeketa Community College in 2019. He recorded the most saves on the team last season as a junior, closing out six wins for the Rainbow Warriors. 

Jacob Igawa, who led Hawai’i with 66 hits this season, spent time at three different colleges in his career. The infielder returned to the islands for his sophomore season at Hawai’i-Hilo before transferring into the Hawai’i program and immediately making himself an integral part of the ‘Bows offense. In three seasons with the Rainbow Warriors, Igawa hit .303 in 489 at-bats, played in 131 games and tallied 14 homers and 98 career runs batted in. 

Though they finish the season on the outside looking into the NCAA tournament, Hawai’i baseball fans can continue to feel confident in the direction of the program under Rich Hill after the sweep to end the season. 

For the second time in two years under Hill, the ‘Bows finish with a winning record in the Big West and have won a series against every conference opponent except UC Irvine during the Hill era. 

HONOLULU — Another day, another win at the Les. 

The Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (28-20) took down UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (35-19), 8-5, in game two of a three-game series at Les Murakami Stadium Friday night. 

The ‘Bows took the first game of the series, 17-1, on Thursday. The Gauchos entered the series needing a sweep of UH for a share of the Big West title.

Hawai’i left-handed pitcher Randy Abshier got the call for the Friday night matchup, part of senior weekend for the BaseBows, though it took some time for the senior southpaw to settle in and find his command.

The Gauchos, looking to start quickly after a quiet night at the plate Thursday, saw the first two batters reach before Christian Kirtley crushed a one-out, three-run home run over the right field fence to open an early 3-0 lead for the visitors. 

The ‘Bows tried to answer back in the bottom half of the opening frame, loading the bases with just one out, but back-to-back strikeouts by Gauchos’ starter Hudson Barrett ended the threat without any damage by Hawai’i in the first.

Abshier came out to the mound calmer in the top of the second, setting down the Gauchos in order in the frame to keep the deficit at three runs. 

Hawai’i got on the board in the bottom half of the second, after Sean Rimmer led the inning off with a walk and scored on a two-out RBI double off the bat of Dallas Duarte later in the inning.

The ‘Bows threat for more was extinguished one batter later after a Stone Miyao line drive was snatched out of the air at third base to end the inning.

Abshier continued getting better, working through the next three Gauchos’ batters in order again in the top of the third to work up to seven straight retired by the lefty.

The BaseBows cut another run off their deficit in the bottom of the third, as Rimmer dropped a base hit into centerfield to score Matt Wong from second and cut the lead to 3-2 before the Gauchos could escape trouble once again.

UCSB’s Zander Darby singled to left with two outs in the top of the fourth to break Abshier’s streak of nine straight batters retired, but the Gauchos were unable to add on otherwise as the lefty continued to work in rhythm.

Hawai’i continued chugging along on offense, with Jordan Donahue capitalizing on an error by the visitors to reach base and score on a passed ball during the next at-bat and tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth.

The ‘Bows took their first lead of the game a couple batters later, as Jacob Igawa singled home a speeding Dallas Duarte from second base, catapulting Hawai’i to a 4-3 lead heading into the top of the fifth inning.

Abshier flashed his dominance in the fifth, sitting the Gauchos down in order once again. The lefty retired 14 of 15 batters faced between his one-out walk issued following the Kirtley home run and the end of the fifth. 

His day would end after walking the leadoff batter in the top of the sixth, giving way to fellow left-hander Harrison Bodendorf with a runner on first and none gone. 

Bodendorf picked up a strikeout, but a walk and hit batter later loaded the bases with only one away for the Gauchos in the top of the sixth, trailing by a run.

The lefty struck out Darby for the second out before inducing an inning-ending 4-6 fielder’s choice to escape the jam with the lead still in hand for Hawai’i as they went to the bottom of the sixth.

Feeling the pressure from the top of the inning, it was important for the ‘Bows to add breathing room for the pitching staff and defense and do it quickly.

Stone Miyao answered the call by delivering his first home run of the year, a solo shot to right field, extending the lead to 5-3 to start the ‘Bows half of the sixth. 

The bomb to right was the first of four insurance runs the home squad added in the frame, as Ben Ziegler-Namoa brought home another run on a fielder’s choice before two more came across after a wild pitch and balk from UCSB reliever Sam Whiting, giving the ‘Bows a commanding 8-3 lead.

The Gauchos got a run back in the top of the seventh after a one-out triple came around to score on a wild pitch from Bodendorf. The lefty wiggled out of the inning avoiding further trouble before posting a zero in the top of the eighth inning. 

Hawai’i threatened in the bottom half of the eighth, putting runners on the corners with only one out, but UCSB quashed the ‘Bows threat and kept the score, 8-4, as the Gauchos came to the plate for their last ABs of the night.

Bodendorf had some trouble in the top of the ninth, allowing a double down into the left field corner to set up the Gauchos with runners on second and third and only one out. 

After a quick discussion with Hawai’i head coach Rich Hill to settle down the southpaw, Bodendorf worked quickly and efficiently once again. He allowed a run to score on a groundout to second for the inning’s second out before striking out Kirtley looking to clinch the 8-5 win for Hawai’i. 

Hudson Barrett was charged with the loss for the Gauchos, his first of the year, after going four innings and allowing four runs (3 ER) on seven hits and three walks. He struck out seven of the 23 batters he faced.

Abshier picked up his sixth win of the season for UH, going 5+ innings, allowing just three runs (2 ER) on three hits and two walks, striking out nine Gauchos before handing the ball to Bodendorf.

Bodendorf went four strong innings for the ‘Bows to earn his fifth save of the year, striking out eight batters himself while allowing a pair of runs (1 ER) in the win.

Five different Rainbow Warriors picked up RBI on the night as Hawai’i strung together 12 hits and worked six walks as the offensive explosion for UH continued.

Hawai’i and UC Santa Barbara will play Saturday night at 6:35 p.m. HST for the regular season finale at Les Murakami Stadium, celebrating senior night for the Rainbow Warriors.

HONOLULU — Craig Angelos flew to Hawai’i Wednesday night thinking that the “home run” he had once missed as a collegiate baseball player playing as a visitor at Les Murakami Stadium might’ve finally happened.

Obviously, the first chance missed came in a real-life college baseball game during his time at BYU when the “Mānoa Mist” stonewalled a well-struck ball off his bat years ago, denying a Hawaiian home run for the then-first baseman.

Over 30 years of experience in college athletics administration later, with stops at the NCAA itself, holding second-in-command duties at many D1 institutions, and holding the head athletics director job at Florida Atlantic University for nearly ten years (2002-2012), Angelos finally had another chance at his Hawaiian “home run” with another crack at leading an athletics department with it.

It didn’t come without a long, strenuous, and much-criticized process.  

Before the Board of Regents confirmed UH president David Lassner’s appointment of Angelos to the role of AD by an 8-2 vote in favor of (with one member abstaining from voting) Thursday afternoon, the members took time to express disappointment with the process and a desire for workshopping it for future roles. 

Angelos was put forward to Lassner by the 8-person search committee as part of three to five finalists for the job. The finalists were determined after interviews with 8-10 candidates who were picked out of over 60 applicants and cut down by best fit, experience and skill.

Once the finalists were presented to Lassner, the president conducted his own interviews before concluding that Angelos would be the pick amongst the best the committee offered. 

That same search committee came under fire during the process due to diversity concerns, leading to the addition of former UH wide receiver and Radford alum Ashley Lelie to the panel that included people like UH men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade and Rainbow Wahine head basketball coach Laura Beeman. 

After over two hours of executive session deliberation, the Board of Regents emerged to vote on Angelos’ appointment (among other things). 

The new athletic director’s official appointment to the job came with strong favor, receiving eight “yay” votes out of eleven total despite the concerns expressed earlier. 

Angelos addressed the media for the first time following the meeting’s conclusion and took questions from reporters as he donned a brand-new Hawai’i baseball cap and a big-time smile. 

Standing in front of the media, Angelos thanked the Board of Regents, Lassner and the search committee among many more people during his opening remarks. The fresh face of the athletics department took time to detail the people at UH who had helped him during the transition to the islands and continue to assist as he starts to immerse himself in the culture. 

“I know that there was some discussion about my lack of local ties to the community,” Angelos acknowledged. “I do totally understand that and recognize that and want to give you my solid promise that I will certainly try to immerse myself in this community.”

“I want to look, I want to listen, I want to learn from everybody that’s here. I want to be part of it and make this our home,” he continued. 

The open-mindedness of Angelos is good, fitting into the positivity in Hawai’i. Unfortunately, the job is far more than learning Hawai’i culture for the man taking over after David Matlin’s 8-year tenure.

Angelos begins duties June 5 with plenty of work cut out for him, as issues hanging over the new Aloha Stadium plan continue to persist for the university and programs must continue to navigate the new NIL landscape in the NCAA along with the increased use of the transfer portal.

Conference realignment is another concern of many as schools continue to move with commitments to new leagues and rumors of larger conferences at risk of falling through. With these issues and more, it was Angelos tabbed to lead the Rainbow Warriors into the next era of college sports.

The new athletic director outlined the previously stated issues in his opening remarks, discussing how he would like to continue to expand on the previous regime’s start on solving the newest problems facing the NCAA while continuing the excellent experience student-athletes receive at Hawai’i.

“I want to really work a lot on what [David Matlin has] already started with the capital project, certainly the Aloha Stadium project,” Angelos said. “That’s an area I have a little bit of a specialty in from my days at Florida Atlantic University when I was able to work on a public-private partnership there and get to build a 30,000-seat football stadium. I know this is a different kind of project, but I certainly want to be involved in that.” 

With the recent delays in the plan to build a new Aloha Stadium, Angelos’ experience will be greatly welcomed as fans wonder how they can believe in the stadium being built. 

A new era officially begins for the University of Hawai’i, a brand and university that Angelos called “iconic” during his remarks. He believes that with a unified approach, there is no telling how bright the Rainbow Warriors can shine.

“It’s going to take a lot of people working together,” Angelos finished his opening remarks with. “We’ve got to be unified in our approach, anywhere from the governor’s office to the mayor’s office, to the legislative personnel, to donors, to university personnel… if we’re aligned all in one, no divisions amongst us, we can accomplish a lot of things.”