Hawaii catcher Tyler Murray returned to good health, then delivered the tie-breaking hit in Hawaii’s feel-good 4-3 baseball victory over Cal State Northridge at Matador Field.
A Friday crowd of 602 on the CSUN campus saw the Rainbow Warriors win their fourth in a row to improve to 18-20 overall and 7-6 in the Big West. By winning the opener of the three-game series, the ’Bows moved above .500 in league play for the first time since March 29. The Matadors are 17-23 and 4-9.
The Matadors tied it at 3 in the seventh when they scored two runs after the ’Bows failed to turn a double play. But in the eighth, Dallas Duarte drew a one-out walk, raced to second on a passed ball, and scored when Murray pulled a pitch into left field.
Murray exited early from a game last week when he suffered a hamstring ailment. He did not play in the Wednesday’s nonconference game against San Diego. On Friday morning, he was declared fit to play.
Murray’s availability to start at catcher coincided with shortstop Maaki Yamazaki’s sore shoulder. Yamazaki started at second, third baseman Ethan Lopez moved to short, and Duarte opened at third. Duarte, who also catches, plays second when Murray is behind the plate. Duarte and Lopez each made two acrobatic fielding plays.
“Dallas showed his versatility,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said. “He made a couple plays that, honestly, I don’t know if we have anybody else who could have made those plays at third. The kid can just flat out play baseball.”
Trapasso praised starting pitcher Cade Smith, who has played well since altering from an over-the-top motion to three-quarter delivery. Smith pitched a five-hitter over 6 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out three. He threw strikes on 70.1 percent of his 105 pitches. CSUN’s leadoff hitters were 1-for-7 against Smith.
“He just threw strikes,” Trapasso said of Smith. “He’s getting better every time out. He’s turning himself into a real Friday guy. The way he pitched is as good as I’ve seen him. He’s starting to figure things out by being efficient and trusting his stuff. It couldn’t have happened to a better kid.”
After Smith issued consecutive one-out singles in the seventh, Trapasso went to Jeremy Wu-Yelland. But Wu-Yelland walked both batters he faced, including a bases-loaded pass to force in a run. Closer Dylan Thomas was summoned. Thomas worked out of jams in each of the final three innings to improve to 4-3.
“I was bound and determined not to lose that game because of how well (Smith) pitched,” Trapasso said of the decision to use Thomas for the final eight outs. “Cade was the story of the game. He deserved a better fate than to get a no-decision. It’s not ideal to burn your closer the way we did, but there was no way I was going to let us lose that after the way Cade pitched and all the momentum on our side. I went to DT early, and fortunately we were able to score that run in the eighth.”
Logan Pouelsen will start for UH in today’s 10 a.m. game.
Trapasso said Yamazaki’s availability has not been determined.
