A freshman battery of right-hander Cooper Walls and catcher David Vergel de Dios energized the Hawaii baseball team in a 1-0 victory over 15th-ranked UC Santa Barbara at Les Murakami Stadium.

A Sunday-matinee crowd of 2,141 saw Walls and Isaiah Magdaleno combine on a four-hitter; Vergel de Dios parlay his first college hit into the game’s only run, and the Rainbow Warriors make several acrobatic defensive plays. Right fielder Jared Quandt’s leaping catch for the final out helped the ’Bows win for the 14th time in 19 games and improve to 3-3 in the Big West.

The Gauchos (15-4 and 4-2) had won 25 Big West games in a row through Friday’s 2-1 victory over the ’Bows. But the Gauchos lost the final two of this three-game series.

UH head coach Rich Hill decided to go with first-year ’Bows Walls and Vergel de Dios, who was making his third start. Vergel de Dios, who entered hitless in five at bats, singled to open the UH third inning. He went to third on Ben Zeigler-Namoa’s single, and came home when Quandt pulled a hit to right.

“I did a little jam shot over the first baseman,” Vergel de Dios said. “It was like three fastballs in a row. I’m a freshman, the ninth batter, and I thought (UCSB pitcher Calvin Proskey) was going to come after me. He threw another fastball, and I just reacted to it.”

On his decisive run, Vergel de Dios said, “it’s kind of cool. First hit, too.”

UH coach Rich Hill said of the freshman battery: “You wear the Hawaii uniform, it doesn’t really matter what class you’re in or how much scholarship you have. Everybody’s expected to go level 10 in terms of their effort, attitude and enthusiasm. We don’t see scholarship numbers and classes. We just see who’s going to perform, and get it done.”

Walls allowed four hits in seven innings to improve to 2-0.

“My first couple outings, it was kind of rough,” Walls said. “I finally dialed in. At Riverside (a week earlier), I finally felt like myself. Today, I had all my stuff. My fastball and slider. My curveball was there. I was sticking with the stuff I had and it worked out for me. Credit the defense. They helped me out.”

UH pitching coach Keith Zuniga said: “The biggest thing with Coop is trusting his stuff. Let the (batters) put it in play. He’s got a good fastball, a good curveball, a good slider with good feel for a change-up. It’s just trusting your stuff, and letting your defense work behind you. The biggest adjustment is competing over the plate and forcing them to do something with the bat. With his stuff, it’s going to be tough for some people.”

Magdaleno, who threw 48 pitches in three scoreless innings on Saturday, came back to pitch two innings for his third save. He threw strikes on 14 of his 19 pitches.

After Saturday’s game, Magdaleno assured Hill he would be available for the series finale. “Really, it was about not thinking about (Saturday), and coming back like it was a fresh day,” Magdaleno said.

With two outs and Gauchos on first and second in the eighth, Magdaleno threw a fastball to right-swinging Jonathan Mendez that appeared to catch the inside corner for a third strike. But home plate umpire Alex Ortiz called it a ball. Magdaleno then threw a fastball that broke away from Ortiz for a called third strike, ending the threat.

“Mendez struck a couple breaking balls well during the weekend,” Zuniga said. “We weren’t going to give him what he was looking for. The way he took the fastball in just showed he wasn’t comfortable with that pitch. It wasn’t what he was looking for. We got him off the plate a little bit, and then we expanded outside with a fastball again. That’s all credit to Isaiah putting the ball where he wants it.”

Magdaleno said: “You can’t really think about it if it doesn’t go my way. I have to go on to the next pitch.”

In the ninth, LeTrey McCollum, who hit for the cycle a week earlier, drove a two-out pitch from Magdaleno to deep right. With center fielder Matthew Miura yelling “red” — the alert that the ball was traveling toward the red-colored warning track — Quandt measured his launch.

“He told me I was running out of room, so I jumped, and I was able to get to it,” Quandt said.