Hawaii outlasts CSUB baseball as Roadrunners lose 7-4
Apr. 15—With both teams' spot starters on fire through five innings, it was Hawaii that broke through first.
Jacob Igawa hit a double off Cal State Bakersfield's Jaykob Acosta with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth, breaking a scoreless tie and putting the Rainbow Warriors up 3-0.
That crucial breakthrough, combined with Blaze Koali'i Pontes' six-inning, one-run, eight-strikeout performance in his first start of the season, helped lift Hawaii to a 7-4 win at Hardt Field.
"We ran into a buzzsaw tonight," CSUB coach Jeremy Beard said. "(Koali'i Pontes) pitched very well. I would have liked to see our guys take some more quality at-bats, maybe eat some more pitches and try to get into that bullpen a little sooner."
Koali'i Pontes and Acosta, both elevated to the starting rotation for Thursday's matchup, each got through five scoreless innings before suffering their first blemish. But while Acosta allowed three baserunners before Igawa's clutch hit, then was charged with a fourth run when Matt Wong drove in Igawa with a single against Kevin Altamirano, Koali'i Pontes merely gave up a solo home run to AJ Miller.
Still, Beard was pleased with the performance of his sophomore pitcher.
"Jaykob was outstanding," he said. "He gave us every chance to win a ballgame today."
Beard also noted that the Roadrunners could have escaped the inning with a double play. Right before Igawa's double, with one out and the bases loaded, Stone Miyao hit a ground ball to third, and Daniel Carrizosa found Angel Saldivar at home for one out, but the Roadrunners didn't turn a double play that would have preserved the 0-0 tie.
CSUB (14-17) eventually got some offense later in the game, particularly from Aaron Casillas, who was 3-for-4 with three late RBIs. But between the late-game effectiveness of Wong (2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two RBIs) and the Roadrunner pitching staff's lack of control (six walks, six batters hit), CSUB could never quite make up the deficit against Hawaii (14-16).
All 11 runs scored in the final four innings, marking a stark contrast from the early stages of the game, when no runner moved past first base until Duarte, who walked and then got to second on a groundout by Kyson Donahue in the fourth. Some cracks started to show in the fifth when Acosta hit a pair of batters, but he stranded them by drawing a ground ball from Naighel Ali'i Calderon for an easy third out.
Acosta, who pitched six innings on April 1 against Cal State Fullerton, tried to replicate the feat Thursday, but fell short when Igawa took his 1-0 pitch and sent it to the wall in left-center field.
After Miller's home run, the Roadrunners got back within one run at 4-3 in the seventh when Andy Archer walked Aaron Perez and gave up a double to James Bell, then Casillas singled up the middle off Cameron Hagan to score them both.
The momentum was short-lived, however. Altamirano was deemed to have hit Cole Cabrera upon video review, then he walked Miyao. He recovered by striking out Igawa, but Wong bounced one over Carrizosa and into left field to score two runs. The Rainbow Warriors added one more by loading the bases against Cody Tucker, then drawing a walk against the final CSUB reliever, Taylor Ott.
In the bottom of the ninth, James Bell used a pair of errors to reach second and a Saldivar groundout to reach third, then Casillas brought him home. But pinch-hitter Evan Rice lined out to Miyao near first, resulting in a double play that ended the game.
The two teams will play again Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
