Hawaii found multiple ways to lose multiple games on Saturday.
Abilene Christian erased a two-run deficit by scoring five runs in the late innings to pull out a 7-4 win over the Rainbow Warriors at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz.
Hours later, Nathan Bannister tossed a complete game for Arizona, which scored the deciding run after a Hawaii error to pull out a 2-1 win.
Hawaii, which wrapped up Big West play last week, has lost five in a row to drop to 21-31. The ‘Bows have lost at least 30 games in three straight seasons for the first time in school history.
Andrew Jones (1-5) gave up four runs on four hits in an inning to suffer the loss in the first game after Hawaii took a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning.
Alan Baldwin singled home Johnny Weeks and Kaeo Aliviado’s sacrifice fly scored Jacob Sheldon-Collins, who doubled, to give UH the lead.
Kyle Von Ruden got the final out of the sixth inning after starter L.J. Brewster lasted 52⁄3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Jones walked two and gave up two two-out hits to allow ACU (18-37) to take a 5-4 lead.
He gave up a single to center to start the ninth and was replaced by Cody Culp, who served up a two-run homer to Russell Crippin for the final margin.
"I’m mostly disappointed with the seventh inning of the first game because we had a two-run lead with (Jones) on the mound that has had the hot hand and he just didn’t have it today," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "I feel bad for him because he’s been really good in the last month and they just hit it where we weren’t. I told him to get ready for one more game because we’re going to need him (Sunday), I really believe that."
In the nightcap, Hawaii was held to two runs or less for the fourth time in its last five games and 21st time in 52 total games.
Sheldon-Collins singled in the eighth and scored UH’s only run on a sacrifice fly by Aliviado, who had two hits.
Tyler Brashears (8-5) took the loss despite allowing only one earned run in 71⁄3 innings with no walks and four strikeouts.
Brashears will finish the season with a 1.86 ERA in 1012⁄3 innings. If he does not return for his senior year, he will hold the school record for lowest career ERA for a pitcher who has thrown at least 50 innings.
He lasted at least seven innings in five of his last six starts and didn’t walk a batter for the fifth time.
"The nightcap was a good game and Tyler pitched great and deserved a better fate, but it really was a good college baseball game," Trapasso said. "I’m not going to write his epitaph yet until we know he’s gone for good, but Tyler’s obviously had a great year and we’ll see what happens in the next few weeks."
Quintin Torres-Costa recorded the final two outs to keep Hawaii within a run heading into the ninth.
He extended his scoreless innings streak to 221⁄3 spanning 15 appearances.
The Wildcats scored on a one-out double in the fourth inning and took a 2-0 lead on a sacrifice bunt to score Tyler Krause, who reached base on a throwing error by Stephen Ventimilia.
Ventimilia was the tying run on first base with two outs in the eighth inning when he was picked off by Bannister (7-5), who scattered seven hits and struck out seven with no walks in the complete game.
