Making sure there were no misses, the Hawaii baseball team made all the right moves in defeating Ole Miss 13-4 to earn a split of the season-opening, four-game series at Les Murakami Stadium.
After dropping the first two games to the 2022 College World Series champions, the Rainbow Warriors won the next two by a combined 22-5. Freshmen pitchers Isaiah Magdaleno and Itsuki Takemoto collaborated on a three-hitter in Saturday’s second game of a doubleheader. Before 2,724 on Sunday afternoon, eight UH pitchers allowed five hits and the ’Bows parlayed six Ole Miss errors into six unearned runs.
“The best thing about this weekend was the fans,” UH coach Rich Hill said, “and the support and the vibe at Les Murakami Stadium. It’s very tough to come in here. You saw that today. That was a national champion (20) months ago that really had a hard time.”
Hill’s strategy was to use nine pitchers for an inning apiece. Cory Ronan, who did not pitch last season because of an injury, lasted four batters, exiting with the bases loaded and one out. Hill summoned Zacary Tenn, who also missed last season while recovering from a “Tommy John” injury to his right (pitching) elbow.
After yielding a sacrifice fly, Tenn worked out of the jam, and then pitched a scoreless second inning. He was awarded the victory.
“We script it out like that,” Hill said of his ensemble plan, “but we also have emergency guys who will get hot if somebody gets hurt or has trouble throwing strikes or is getting hit, We plug those guys in there. Zac was the first guy up. We had him warm. And, man, that was a huge momentum change.”
Tenn said: “I wanted to go out there and minimize the damage. I was out there in the first and let my defense work. … The coaches did a good job getting me ready once that first inning started. I kind of learned how Rich is with short(-inning) issues. Everybody has to be ready. I felt I was mentally ready.”
Danny Veloz pitched the final two innings, allowing only one hit. During the series, Veloz did not allow a run in four innings.
“Lights out,” catcher DallasJ Duarte said of right-handed Veloz. “That guy is good. He keeps his composure. He attacks the (strike) zone. He’s not scared of getting hit. He’ll pound that zone.”
Veloz welcomed the weekend’s workload.
“It’s been a long journey,” said Veloz, who attended Long Beach State for a year but did not pitch in the 2020 COVID-shortened season. He transferred to Los Angeles Valley College, but the 2021 junior-college season was canceled because of the pandemic.
“It’s a different type of feeling when you step on the mound here,” said Veloz, who relies on a changeup and slider to complement his fastball. “I felt the energy. I fed off that.”
Duarte acknowledged it was challenging to work with eight pitchers. “Talk about locking in,” Duarte said. “You’ve got different arm slots, different velos. But that’s the great thing about having a great staff. Best in the Big West, for sure.”
Duarte drove in three runs and Austin Machado and Matthew Miura each had two RBIs. For the second consecutive game, Machado, a transfer from St. John’s, delivered the opening shot — a two-run double in the first inning.
“They called a hit-and-run there, and I was trying to get it over the shortstop’s head,” Machado said of his opposite-field drive to left. “It was a fastball high and away, and I stuck with it.”
The ’Bows drew 10 walks from seven Ole Miss pitchers. Machado and Ben Zeigler-Namoa each walked three times. Zeigler-Namoa walked seven times in the series.
HAWAII 13, OLE MISS 4
REBELS AB R H BI BB SO
Hill ss 2 0 0 1 1 1
Kramer ph 1 0 0 0 0 1
Groff cf 4 1 0 0 0 0
Markle ph 1 0 0 0 0 0
Ross 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0
Farni ph 1 0 0 0 0 0
Fischer 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1
Lege lf 3 1 1 1 0 0
Utermark rf 3 1 1 0 0 1
Gatlin dh 2 1 1 1 0 0
Furniss ph 1 0 0 0 0 0
Burford 2b 2 0 0 0 1 0
Randle 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0
Smithwick c 3 0 1 1 0 1
Lyons ph 1 0 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 31 4 5 4 4 5
RAINBOW WARRIORS AB R H BI BB SO
Ickes 3b 3 4 1 1 2 0
J. Donahue ss 4 2 1 1 0 1
Duarte c 6 0 2 3 0 0
Machado dh 3 1 1 2 3 0
Zeigler 1b 3 0 0 1 3 1
Miura cf 5 1 1 2 0 3
K. Donahue rf 5 1 1 0 0 3
Nahaku lf 1 0 0 0 0 0
Miyao 2b 4 2 1 0 0 1
Tsukada lf 1 1 0 1 1 1
Quandt, pr/lf 1 1 1 0 1 0
TOTALS 36 13 9 11 10 10
Ole Miss (2-2) 100 300 000 — 4 5 6
Hawaii (2-2) 225 100 03x — 13 9 2
E–Fischer (2), Hill, Ross, Burford, Smithwick; Duarte, Zeigler-Namoa. LOB–Ole
Miss 8, UH 15. 2B–Smithwick; Duarte,
Machado, Quandt. SH–Miyao SF–Hill,
Lege; J. Donahue. SB–Gatlin. HBP–Utermark, Gatlin; Ickes, J. Donahue, Miura, Tsukada.
OLE MISS IP H R ER BB SO
Maddox (L, 0-1) 2 4 5 3 2 4
Rodriguez 1
3 2 4 1 3 0
Tolbert 12
3 1 1 0 0 1
Mallitz 2 1 0 0 1 3
Simmons 1 0 0 0 0 2
Carmack 2
3 1 3 3 4 0
Galle 1
3 0 0 0 0 0
HAWAII IP H R ER BB SO
Ronana 1
3 0 1 1 3 0
Tenn (W, 1-0) 12
3 0 0 0 0 2
Waite 1 0 0 0 0 0
Cardinez 1 3 3 1 0 0
Gonzalez 1 0 0 0 0 0
Marx 1
3 1 0 0 1 0
Harrison 12
3 0 0 0 0 2
Veloz 2 1 0 0 0 1
HBP—by Maddox (Ickes, Miura), by Tolbert
(Tsukada, J. Donahue); by Tenn (Gaitlin), by
Cardinez (Utermark).
Umpires—(Plate): Mike Fichter. (First): Gary
DiFabio. (Third): Jason Starkovich. T—3:32.
A—3,712.
