University of Hawaii baseball team rallies to down UC Davis

After a false start, Hawaii ran away to a 9-5 baseball victory over UC Davis at Les Murakami Stadium.

A Friday night crowd of 1,183 saw the Rainbow Warriors stake the Aggies to a 3-0 advantage after one inning, then storm back with a five-run second for a lead they would not relinquish.

The Aggies closed to 6-5 in the eighth. But the ’Bows answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning — two on Maaki Yamazaki’s only hit of the game — to claim the first game of this three-game Big West series. The ’Bows improved to 12-16 overall and 2-2 in the Big West. The Aggies are 9-13 and 2-2.

True freshman Aaron Davenport gave up the early 3-0 lead but then did not allow a run from the second through the sixth innings. He exited with two outs in the seventh — his longest stint of his rookie season — after allowing Kyler Arenado’s RBI single to right.

“I don’t think you can say enough about the job Aaron Davenport did,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said. “You’re dealing with a freshman who’s on an emotional roller coaster because he’s an emotional guy to begin with and he’s a freshman. You gotta deal with the ups and downs. You spend a lot of time getting him to breathe and relax and understand we have a long way to go after that first inning. And he wasn’t good. But I think he really grew today. Those are the kinds of steps you have to take to be the prospect he will be.”

Davenport, who allowed four runs and spaced eight hits, benefited from double plays in the first, third and fourth innings. He also picked off two runners at first.

In his four appearances, including three starts since returning from a strained rotator cuff in his right (pitching) arm, Davenport has allowed five earned runs in 22 innings. During that span, he has a 2.05 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP.

It was an uncharacteristic opening inning for Davenport, who allowed the first three batters to reach base on two singles and a hit batsman. After striking out Joseph Myers, Davenport plunked Caleb Van Blake to force in the first run. Alejandro Lara then smacked an 0-2 pitch to right for a two-run single.

“I got off to a bit of a rocky start,” Davenport said. “I knew I had to flush it, can’t dwell on it. I knew my body felt good. I knew I had to go out and compete and give my team the best chance to win. I was fighting, really, trying to make up for that first inning.”

The ’Bows came back against Brett Erwin, the Aggies’ ace. Erwin allowed a run in each of the previous three games. But the right-handed sophomore with four pitches had difficulty commanding the zone in the UH second. Ethan Lopez singled, then advanced to second on Brennen Hancock’s groundout. Daylen Calicdan hit a chopper that shortstop Tanner Murray could not grasp with his right hand. When Murray recovered the ball, Lopez was sprinting home with the ’Bows’ first run.

Dallas Duarte then grounded to Murray, whose throw sailed over first baseman Cameron Briggs and into the Aggies’ dugout. Tyler Murray singled to center, scoring Calicdan from third and Duarte from second to tie it at 3. Murray went to second on Tyler Best’s single to deep short. After Tyler Murray was picked off second, Scotty Scott drew a five-pitch walk. Best and Scott then sprinted home for a 5-3 lead when Yamazaki pulled a drive to right that ricocheted off Lara’s glove for a three-base error.