On “Bark in the Park” night, the 91直播 baseball team unleashed an opportunistic attack in a 4-1 victory over 91直播 Pacific at Les Murakami Stadium.
A crowd of 1,734 — and canine pets allowed in the Aloha Deck — saw the Rainbow Warriors break out of their scoring drought to take their 18th consecutive victory over their crosstown rival. The ’Bows’ last loss to the Sharks was in 1986. The ’Bows improved to 34-2 in this series.
“Very tough,” UH coach Rich Hill said of the Division II Sharks. “That’s a very well-coached team with guys that are very hungry to win, big fan base. I loved the crowd. ‘Bark at the Park.’ It felt like the game meant something. It’s good for our guys to be in that situation heading into (Friday’s series opener against) Cal State Fullerton. You can’t replicate that in practice.”
Down 1-0 after stranding 11 runners in the first six innings, the ’Bows rallied for four runs in the seventh.
Ben Zeigler-Namoa led off with a single to right and advanced to second on Elijah Ickes’ infield hit up the middle. Zeigler-Namoa went to third while Ickes was out at second on Draven Nushida’s fielder’s choice groundout. Kody Watanabe then pulled an RBI single to right to bring home Zeigler-Namoa with the tying run.
Tate Shimao then was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jake Redding drew a four-pitch walk to bring home Nushida and give the ’Bows a 2-1 lead. One out later, Kamana Nahaku also walked on four pitches to extend the ’Bows’ lead to 3-1. Gabe Wright followed with an RBI single to complete the ’Bows’ scoring.
“Throughout the game we had a lot of runners on base and put a lot of guys in scoring position, we just had to get that hit to break through, and it finally felt good to do that in the seventh inning,” said Ickes, who went 2-for-5. “You see a lot of guys do their thing. And the pitchers held it down to keep us in the game. It felt good to finally score some runs.”
UH right-hander Ryan Inouye, who transferred from HPU last August, pitched a scoreless ninth.
“Not really, gotta keep it the same, even though I know a lot of the guys over there,” Inouye said of not being emotional facing his former school.
Relying on a side-armed motion he mastered in middle school, Inouye struck out one and allowed a hit for his first UH save.
The Sharks scored first in the top of the seventh. Owen Wessel singled to right and went to third on Jayden Gabrillo’s double to right. Ethan Murakoshi hit a sharp grounder to short that Ickes fielded. Ickes threw out Wessel at the plate as Gabrillo advanced to third. Gabrillo then scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch.
The ’Bows’ offensive struggles continued through the first six innings. The ’Bows entered hitting .231 in their first 22 games, including .243 with runners in scoring position and .204 with two outs.
The ’Bows stranded 13 runners — five in the first two innings — with eight in scoring position.
In the first, the ’Bows loaded the bases on two walks and a hit by pitch with two outs. But Jacob Vanek, who entered after starter Ethan Harris faced only two batters, induced Watanabe to ground out to short.
In the UH second, Redding drew a one-out walk and went to second on Mana Lau Kong’s single, his fifth hit of the season. But Vanek struck out Nahaku and induced Wright’s flyout to deep left.
ln the UH fifth, Wright and Zeigler-Namoa drew two-out walks and Ickes followed with an infield single to second. But Jett AhSam, the fifth of HPU’s eight pitchers, got Nushida to line out to center fielder Noah Hata to end the threat.
In the sixth, the ’Bows placed runners at first and second with one out when HPU summoned its left-handed closer, Noah Rhea. Rhea, who entered with a 1.50 ERA and four saves, struck out Lau Kong for the first out. But Rhea then hit Nahaku to load the bases. On a 2-2 count, Wright hit a towering fly to center for the third out.
The Sharks went deep into the playbook — and rule book. They issued two challenges, losing both. In the seventh, reliever Rhea started the inning, then went to left field, and then returned to the mound.
