After the rain stopped, the Hawaii baseball team made it pour.
The Rainbow Warriors pounded 17 hits against six UC Davis pitchers for Friday night’s 11-3 rout at Les Murakami Stadium.
By winning for the second night in a row, the ’Bows clinched the three-game series and improved to 24-18 overall and 13-10 in the Big West. The Aggies fell to 17-29 and 7-16. The series pauses today for UH’s commencement ceremony, then concludes with Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. finale.
Entering the series, UH was inconsistent in the eighth and ninth spots in the lineup. But left fielder Ben Zeigler-Namoa and shortstop Jordan Donahue each had three hits. Donahue was held out of the three previous games after enduring a 2-for-23 slump. But he scored two runs and drove in another.
“It was good to come out here and get that game in,” Donahue said. “It felt good. It’s all about preparation. Baseball is all about the ups and downs. It was good to see our team come out here and get 17 hits and put up 11 runs.”
UH coach Rich Hill said: “It was great to see Jordan Donahue have a great night. Ben Zeigler-Namoa, the same thing. … Just some great at-bats.”
Catcher DallasJ Duarte and shortstop Kyson Donahue each had three RBIs. Every UH starter reached base.
“I was just trying to add to the RBI party,” Duarte said. “The whole lineup, one to nine, did a great job. I was trying to pick them up.”
Randy Abshier spaced seven hits in 51⁄3 innings to improve to 5-2 (4-1 against Big West opponents). Alex Giroux did not allow a hit in pitching the final 32⁄3 innings.
Giroux entered with a runner on second with one out in the sixth. Giroux struck out Nick Iverson and induced Joey Wright to ground out to end the threat.
“It was fun, man,” Giroux said. “I love being in those situations, trying to save a run for my boy Randy out there.”
In the eighth, two Aggies were in scoring position with one out. But Giroux struck out Mark Wolbert and then coaxed Iverson to pop out to second baseman Stone Miyao.
“When runners get on, I like being in those spots,” Giroux said. “It focuses me a little more. I had both my breaking balls working tonight. I had the curveball and slider, and I was mixing those, and spotting up heaters on both sides of the plate.”
After staking the Aggies to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third, the ’Bows answered with runs in each of the next six innings.
Zeigler-Namoa and Jordan Donahue were at the corners after opening the third with back-to-back singles. Duarte then blooped a single to left to bring home Zeigler-Namoa to cut the deficit to 2-1. Donahue and Duarte advanced to third and second on left-swinging Jared Quandt’s sacrifice down the third-base line. One out later, Kyson Donahue hit an opposite-field grounder that eluded the shortstop Wright, who dove to his right, as Jordan Donahue and Duarte raced home.
In the fourth, Zeigler-Namoa’s one-out double to right-center preceded Jordan Donahue’s RBI single to center to extend the ’Bows’ lead to 4-2.
Quandt drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, then went to second on Matt Wong’s infield hit to short. Both moved up a base on Kyson Donahue’s sacrifice. Jacob Igawa’s single to right brought home Quandt with UH’s fifth run. The ’Bows missed an opportunity to expand the margin when they loaded the bases with one out. But Ujimori grounded into UH’s third double play of the game.
The ’Bows broke it open with a four-run sixth. Wong hit a two-run triple and Duarte and Kyson Donahue each drove in runs with sacrifice flies.