Hawaii baseball team defeats Cal State Fullerton

Fueled by reserve power, the Hawaii baseball team defeated Cal State Fullerton 10-2 today at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, Calif.

Kamana Nahaku, who started the previous 28 games, came off the bench to hit 3-for-4, including his team-high ninth homer of the season.

UH starting pitcher Cooper Walls exited with two outs in the third inning, three batters after a line drive struck his left calf. But relievers Liam O’Brien, Freddy Rodriguez and Isaiah Magdaleno allowed one run over the next 6 1/3 innings to help the Rainbow Warriors win for the second time in this three-games series. O’Brien pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the victory.

The ’Bows improved to 31-18 overall and 14-13 in the Big West, to move into a three-way tie with UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego for fourth place. The ’Bows play host to UCSD in Thursday’s opener of a key three-game series at Les Murakami Stadium.

Matthew Miura went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs to contribute to the ’Bows’ 15-hit attack. Miura’s scored the game’s first run, racing home from third when Andrew Kirchner could not handle Chris Hernandez’s pick-off attempt at first. Ben Zeigler-Namoa’s ensuing RBI single staked UH to a 2-0 lead in the first.

Nahaku’s pinch-hit homer and Miura’s two-run triple were the highlights of the ’Bows’ four-run fourth inning.

The Titans stranded 14 runners, leaving the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh innings. After Kirchner’s single to lead off the ninth, Magdaleno struck out the next three Titans to end the game.