Zander Darby drove in four runs and Aaron Parker hit a tie-breaking homer in the sixth inning to lead UC Santa Barbara to Saturday’s 10-6 baseball victory over Hawaii at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium on the UCSB campus.
The start of the game was delayed three hours because of heavy rain. But then an audience of 274 saw the Gauchos make an early splash with two runs in the second inning, one of them coming on Darby’s run-scoring triple.
With two outs in the fourth and Jonah Sebring on third, Jessada Brown was intentionally walked to set up a potential force at second and match UH left-hander Harrison Bodendorf against the left-swinging Darby. But the strategy backfired when Darby pulled a drive over the fence in right field for a three-run homer to extend the Gauchos’ lead to 5-0.
“He’s hitting .192 against left-handers,” UH coach Rich Hill said of Darby. “It was one of those where you play the percentages and it didn’t work.”
The ’Bows rallied for five runs in the sixth to tie it at 5-all. Freshman Elijah Ickes’ two-run double was the big hit.
But in the bottom of the inning, with Alex Giroux replacing Kyle Dobyns on the mound, Jonathan Mendez hit a two-out single to center. Parker followed with a two-run homer over the fence in left-center to give the Gauchos a 7-5 lead they would not relinquish.
The Gauchos added a run in the seventh when Sebring and Justin Trimble hit back-to-back doubles.
In the eighth, the ’Bows loaded the bases without a hit. Jake Tsukada reached on an error, Stone Miyao walked and Jordan Donahue was struck by a pitch. DallasJ Duarte then hit a grounder that second baseman Nick Oakley fielded and threw to shortstop Mendez for the force at second. But because ESPN+’s coverage of the game was canceled because of the weather delay, there was no video evidence to support Hill’s protest that Donahue was safe at second.
“That was bases loaded, one out,” Hill said. “Unfortunately, you just can’t leave the game in the officials’ hands. I’m not saying that’s why we lost, but we’re a little snake-bit right now.”
The Gauchos ended all doubt with a two-run eighth.
Hill said Bodendorf’s day was undone by two “bad pitches” — sliders to Darby on the triple and homer — “and paid for it.”
Giroux, the fourth UH pitcher, allowed five runs, four of them earned, in three innings. “That line kind of speaks for itself,” Hill said.
Dobyns, in his fourth appearance of the season, inherited a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the fifth. But he induced the final two outs to end the threat.
“He was all right,” Hill said of Dobyns. “It was good to see him come in and get a couple quick outs. He’s been kind of biding his time all year. You root for guys who have been working hard and when they get their opportunity they do a good job.
In losing the first two of this three-game series, the ’Bows fell to 19-13 overall and 4-7 in the Big West. The Gauchos are 20-10 and 7-4.
The start of Sunday’s series finale has been moved to 12:05 p.m.
Hill said Danny Veloz or Sebastian Gonzalez will start.
