Hawaii Rainbows get 1 back at Long Beach
Mar. 21—This time, the dramatic ending favored the University of Hawaii baseball team.
A day after blowing a ninth-inning lead and losing on a walk-off homer in the 10th, the Rainbow Warriors rebounded to hold off Long Beach State, 6-3, before 2, 459 at Blair Field on the LBSU campus.
"Just trying to get the fans their money's worth, whether they're listening to the radio or watching TV, " UH coach Rich Hill said in a telephone interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
It was Hill's first Big West victory as UH head coach. The Dirtbags won the first two of this three-game series.
"To win on a Sunday after having your heart broken the day before and getting dominated the day before that, there were a lot of positives coming out of this weekend, " Hill said. "We're one strike away from a road-series victory against a previous No. 6 team in the country. I hope our guys believe in themselves and this team."
The'Bows managed two hits in a 4-0 loss on Friday. On Saturday, they blew a 4-2 lead when they walked five in the ninth inning.
On Sunday, they faced two challenging situations. Four Dirtbags were hit by pitches in a two-run sixth inning to close to 6-2. But with the bases loaded, Cameron Hagan fanned Chris Jimenez, who had the walk-off homer a day earlier.
"To me that was the magic moment when he struck out Jimenez on that full-count heater, " Hill said of Hagan. "That was the difference between winning and losing right there. He struggled a little bit. He had some hit by pitches. But in a real at bat of consequence, he was able to come through with that strikeout."
In the LBSU ninth, Rocco Peppi drew a two-out walk and Jonathan Long blooped a single to left field. Cory Ronan, the fourth UH pitcher, struck out pinch hitter Isaac Ramirez to end the game.
Buddie Pindel, who earned the start for UH, pitched five scoreless innings—his longest stint of the year.
"That's the story of the day, " Hill said of Pindel. "He's been a little banged up. ... You can't say enough good things about him."
Matt Wong hit his second home run in as many days and Jacob Igawa blasted a three-run homer to stake the Bows to a 6-0 lead.
Wong's two-out homer in the third extended the'Bows' lead to 3-0. "He's really made some adjustments, " Hill said. "His plate discipline got a whole lot better. He's got more confidence. He's a strong kid."
After Scotty Scott and DallasJ Duarte reached in the fifth, Igawa followed with a drive over the fence in left-center.
"That was great to see, " Hill said of Igawa. "He's made significant strides. It was a 3-0 pitch, and we gave him the green light. He didn't get big. He stayed within himself, and crushed it over 400 feet."
The only drawback was reliever Tai Atkins' struggles in the sixth, when he hit two of the four batters he faced.
"We call it running into the desert a little bit, " Hill said. "He'll be fine. He'll work out some things this week. He'll be back on track."
