With will and grace, the 91直播 baseball team rolled to Friday night鈥檚 12-0 rout of Ball State at Les Murakami Stadium.
A crowd of 1,798 saw another masterful pitching performance from Hekili Robello combined with an offensive outburst, as the Rainbows claimed the first two contests of this four-game series.
Head coach Rich Hill said Robello did not have his best arsenal but still quelled the Cardinals.
Robello allowed two hits and struck out eight before exiting after seven innings. The Hilo-reared Robello threw first-pitch strikes, benefited from an active defense, and needed only eight pitches in a 1-2-3 first inning and six in the fifth frame.
鈥淚 just have to compete, do whatever it takes to win,鈥� Robello said. 鈥淪hout out to the defense. They were unbelievable tonight. And also Jake Redding, our catcher, was unbelievable. He helps me calm down, execute all my pitches.鈥�
Hill appreciated getting a second straight strong start on the mound.
鈥淭he top of the rotation with Hekili and Isaiah (Magdaleno) the last three starts, it鈥檚 good to have that one-two punch,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淗ekili, by his own admission, wasn鈥檛 as sharp tonight, especially with the breaking ball. I thought it was good to get him out of there at close to 80 pitches after seven. We want to get him fresh for Cal Poly (in next week鈥檚 Big West opener). He鈥檚 been lights out.鈥�
The 鈥橞ows took a 1-0 lead without a hit in the first inning. Kamana Nahaku drew a leadoff walk, went to second on Ben Zeigler-Namoa鈥檚 flyout to deep right, stole third and came home on Elijah Ickes鈥� sacrifice fly.
Then in the fourth, the 鈥橞ows sent 13 batters to the plate, scoring eight runs on six hits. Draven Nushida drove in two with a single to center, Nahaku coaxed a bases-loaded walk, and Zeigler-Namoa ripped a three-run double.
For the second night in a row, Zeigler-Namoa pulled a drive over the right-field wall and secondary fence. This time it was a three-run drive in the eighth.
鈥淵ou get one here, it usually goes out of the park,鈥� Zeigler-Namoa said. 鈥淚t was a heater, same as (Thursday). I got a good swing on it, and put it out.鈥�
Ball State鈥檚 Keegan Johnson, a left-handed Friday starter for three seasons, was roughed up again. In his first two starts this season, he was tagged for eight runs in 81鈦�3 innings.
On Friday, Johnson gave up five runs before being chased with two outs in the fourth. His replacement, Zach Leduc, allowed a hit and three walks to the only four batters he faced.
The Ball State pitchers were victimized by the 鈥橞ows鈥� rejuvenated offense under hitting coach Dave Nakama. In sessions ahead of this series, Nakama worked on restoring the 鈥橞ows鈥� aggressive approach.
鈥淐oach Nakama has done a good job going back to the drawing board,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 really worked on some fundamentals, really tried to keep it simple. That鈥檚 a Friday guy we faced today in Johnson. It鈥檚 hard to see the ball. We stayed with it, stayed with it.鈥�
Zeigler-Namoa said the approach at the plate is called 鈥渄igging through the trenches. Sometimes, it gets dirty.鈥�
Zeigler-Namoa went 2-for-5, and Ickes reached base three times, including on a triple into the right-center gap.
鈥淛ust a lot of credit to our hitting coaches,鈥� Ickes said. 鈥淲e went back to the basics, just work on those little simple things. You trust them and the results speak for themselves. I鈥檓 thankful for great coaches. We鈥檙e having great at-bats and putting the ball in play.鈥�
In the first eight games, the 鈥橞ows struck out an average of 9.6 times. On Friday, they struck out four times.
鈥淚t was really nice to see Elijah and Ben really heat up, and use the back side of the field,鈥� Hill said.