Two Long Beach State errors in the ninth inning propelled the Hawaii baseball team to an astonishing 3-2 victory at Les Murakami Stadium.
The Rainbow Warriors had stranded 10 runners in the first eight innings, a total that was poised to expand after they trailed 2-1 with two outs in the ninth.
But with Aaron Ujimori on second and Scotty Scott at first, Alex Baeza pulled a grounder that eluded first baseman Chase Luttrell. Ujimori raced home with the tying run while Scott scooted to third on the error.
Then Tyler Best hit an 0-2 pitch from Devereaux Harrison to short. But Toren Craig, who entered as a defensive replacement at the start of the inning, could not glove the grounder. The ball went into left field, Scott sprinted home, and the ’Bows rushed the field in celebration.
“Sometimes, it’s good to be lucky as well as good,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said. “We were a little bit of both.”
It was a wild strut-off finish for the ’Bows in the opener of their Big West season. The ’Bows improved to 9-2 overall with their eighth victory in a row.
It was the first game of the season for the Dirtbags. Because of health and safety protocols in California and Long Beach County, the Dirtbags were not permitted to practice as a team until Feb. 15. That gave the Dirtbags four weeks of intrasquad scrimmages, bullpen sessions and boxing-themed workouts in advance of Friday night’s game. They did not play a nonconference game.
But the Dirtbags did not display any rust. They cobbled a run each in the first and fourth against UH ace Aaron Davenport. Alfredo Ruiz, a left-hander who was promoted to the Friday-night slot, was masterful in five innings, allowing four hits and a run while striking out six.
Jonathan Lavallee also pitched well, in relief, allowing no runs in 21⁄3 innings. He departed after the ’Bows loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth. But Harrison extinguished that rally with a strikeout.
In the ninth, Ujimori blooped a single over second baseman Luke Chung. Scott, on a bunt attempt, was struck with a Harrison pitch on his right knee. But Harrison struck out Adam Fogel and then induced Kole Kaler to fly out to left. That set up the matchup between Harrison and the left-swinging Baeza.
“For a second there, when the ball was off Baeza’s bat, I thought that was the game-ender,” Trapasso said. “I thought it was going to be one of those swing games where we had all the opportunities all game long, and they just made pitches when they needed to. They just made the right pitches every single time they needed to, and we weren’t able to step up.”
Davenport had another solid outing, allowing five hits and striking out nine in seven innings. It was the seventh game in a row, dating to last season, when UH won when he pitched at least six innings.
The ’Bows closed to 2-1 in a fourth inning in which they could have done more damage. Tyler Best singled and Jacob Igawa singled to left with one out. Dustin Demeter then pulled a grounder to right to score Best. Dallas Duarte’s sacrifice advanced Igawa and Demeter. But Ujimori fanned to end the threat.
The Dirtbags extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth. With two outs, Jonathon Long ripped a drive that was just inside the right-field line. Thomas Greely followed with a single to center and Long sprinted home with the Dirtbags’ second run.
The Dirtbags went deep in the count to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Calvin Estrada smacked an 0-2 pitch into right-center for a leadoff double. Estrada went to third on a balk, then scored on Connor Kokx’s hard grounder to right.
