Rainbows blow ninth-inning lead, fall to Long Beach State in 10 innings
Mar. 20—Backup catcher Chris Jimenez hit a walk-off homer with one out in the 10th inning to vault Long Beach State to a 5-4 baseball victory over Hawaii at Blair Field on the LBSU campus.
The Rainbow Warriors entered the bottom of the ninth with a 4-2 lead. But the'Bows issued five walks, including three in a row with two outs, as the Dirtbags tied it at 4 to force extra innings.
In the 10th, Jimenez hit a drive over the fence in center field to help the Dirtbags win for the second consecutive day and clinch this three-game series to open Big West play. Jimenez had entered in the sixth inning as a defensive replacement.
The outcome wasted UH starting pitcher Cade Halemanu's best performance of the season. Halemanu went six innings, allowing three hits and striking out five. Right fielder Matt Wong's two-run homer in the sixth extended the'Bows' lead to 4-1.
LBSU improved to 10-7 overall and 2-0 in the Big West. UH fell to 6-12 and 0-2.
