A catcher-turned-pitcher and a high freebie count led to the Hawaii baseball team’s 12-1 rout of Rice at Les Murakami Stadium.

A Sunday-matinee crowd of 1,689 saw the Rainbow Warriors win two of the first three in this four-game series between former Western Athletic Conference members.

The ’Bows parlayed four hits and two Rice errors into a 7-0 lead. For the game, the ’Bows amassed seven hits, drew 11 walks and were hit by three pitches.

“Bottom line is scoring runs,” UH coach Rich Hill said. “The base on balls is a huge part of our offense, so is the hit by pitch. Putting pressure on the defense we were able to force them into three errors. It was a great day by the offense.”

Catcher Austin Machado drew three walks, designated hitter Jake Tsukada was struck by two pitches, and right fielder Ben Zeigler-Namoa hit a two-run double in the fifth. The ’Bows added three runs in the eighth, during which they drew six walks from three pitchers.

“We’re grinding every day,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “We’re playing good team baseball. That’s a recipe for a ‘W’ right there.”

But Zeigler-Namoa said he was mindful of Rice’s comeback potential after the ’Bows did not score in the second through fourth innings.

“Like Coach (Dave Nakama) said in our players’ meeting after, those three zeros after, if they score two, three runs, it’s a 7-5 game, and it’s completely different,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “Especially after the first inning, they weren’t scared. They were going after it. They’re a dangerous team sometimes. We kept going, kept hitting.”

Designated as a “staff” game in which multiple pitchers were scheduled to be used, former catcher Nainoa Cardinez started, allowing two hits, including Trey Duffield’s homer, in two innings to earn the victory.

In his second start, Cardinez threw strikes on 19 of 24 pitches, including 13 of his first 14.

“In the fall, I was working more toward being a closer,” Cardinez said. “Now that I’ve got the two starts under my belt, it’s different trying to get the whole timing down. It’s different but it’s a lot of fun.”

Cardinez said the “short-arm action” when he was a catcher has helped him “stay in the zone” as a pitcher. His fastball has touched between 91 mph and 94 mph this year.

Last summer, Cardinez was a catcher with the Green Bay Rockers of the Northwoods League. “The coach gave me a batter because it was ‘Hawaiian Night’ and they let me close the game out,” recalled Cardinez, who twice touched 92 mph that night. “OK, maybe I can do this at the college level. I talked to Rich about it, and he was all for it, and I ended up making the switch.”

Hill said “the story of the game” was Cardinez, Connor Harrison, Zacary Tenn and Isaiah Magdaleno all working out of jams.

“That means they’re pitching in the stretch, with pitches of consequence, making big pitches,” Hill said. “And that’s not always the case. That was a great job by those guys.”

Magdaleno earned the save after pitching four scoreless innings.

“It’s a little different,” Magdaleno said of a move from starter to long reliever. “I had to get used to it, but it was fun. I enjoyed myself. I attacked the batters.”

After allowing back-to-back singles to open the sixth, Magdaleno struck out the next three batters. He also quelled situations when the Owls hit consecutive two-out singles in the eighth and a double in the ninth.

“I feel more comfortable in the stretch now, it feels more fluid,” Magdaleno said. “Anything to feel more comfortable on the mound I’m willing to do.”

The series concludes today, with the first pitch at 2 p.m. Because of Rice’s travel plans, no inning can start after 6:15 p.m.

HAWAII 12, RICE 1

OWLS AB R H BI BB SO

McDonald cf 5 0 3 0 0 0

Riedel ss 5 0 1 0 0 2

Gallo 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0

Becker dh 4 0 1 0 0 0

Rank 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0

Duffield rf 4 1 1 1 0 2

Devenny lf 4 0 1 0 0 1

Royo 3b 2 0 0 0 0 1

Motley ph/3b 2 0 0 0 0 2

Anderson c 3 0 1 0 1 1

TOTALS 37 1 10 1 1 9

RAINBOW WARRIORS AB R H BI BB SO

Ickes 2b 3 2 0 0 2 1

Machado c 2 2 0 0 3 1

Miura cf 3 2 1 1 2 0

Miyao 2b 3 1 0 2 2 1

Tsukada dh 2 2 1 1 0 1

Duarte lf 4 0 0 1 1 1

Calderon lf 0 0 0 0 0 0

Zeigler-Namoa rf 5 1 2 3 0 1

Donahue, K. 1b 3 2 1 1 1 1

Donahue, J. ss 3 0 2 1 0 0

TOTALS 28 12 7 10 11 7

Rice (5-10) 010 000 000 — 1 10 3

Hawaii (9-6) 700 020 03x — 12 7 0

E–Duffield, Royo, Rodriguez. DP–Rice 1.

LOB– Rice 10, Hawaii 7. 2b–McDonald;

Zeigler, Donahue, K.; Donahue, J. HR–

Duffield. HBP–Tsukada, Donahue, J. SF–

Tsukada. SB–Miura, Tsukada, Donahue, J.

CS–Donahue, J.

RICE IP H R ER BB SO

Urbanczyk (L, 0-3) 0 0 5 4 2 0

Rodriguez 4 4 2 2 1 5

Ralamb 2 1 2 2 1 2

Blank 1 1 0 0 1 0

Melvin 1

3 0 3 3 3 0

Gallant 0 0 0 0 2 0

Perkins 2

3 0 0 0 1 0

HAWAII IP H R ER BB SO

Cardinez (W, 1-0) 2 2 1 1 0 1

Harrison 2 2 0 0 0 2

Tenn 1 1 0 0 1 1

Magdaleno 4 5 0 0 0 5

WP–Rodriguez, Melvin. HBP–by Urbanczyk (Tsukada), by Ralamb (Tsukada),

by Ralamb (Donahue, J.) Umpires—(Plate):

Matt McMahon. (First): Michael Carr.

(Third): Andrew Burke. T—2:49. A–1,689.