And the beat goes on for the Hawaii baseball team and hot-hitting outfielder Kamana Nahaku.
On the day he was named the national player of the week, Nahaku went 2-for-2 and drew a walk in helping to lift the Rainbow Warriors to a 10-8 victory over Hawaii Pacific at Les Murakami Stadium. Nahaku was the Golden Spikes’ weekly winner after smacking five home runs, including three on Sunday, during a three-game road series against Cal State Northridge.
“It’s a crazy moment,” Nahaku said. “I’m so happy I could share it with my team.”
Before a crowd of 1,504, Nahaku hit a two-run double as part of the Rainbow Warriors’ five-run first inning.
He drew a walk in a three-run fourth that expanded the ’Bows’ lead to 8-3.
In the UH fifth, Nahaku reached on a one-out triple into the right-center gap. Nahaku came home with the ”Bows’ 10th run on Draven Nushida’s double. Nushida was thrown out trying to expand the extra-base hit into a triple.
UH center fielder Matthew Miura went 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Shortstop Jordan Donahue, first baseman Ben Zeigler-Namoa and Nushida each drove in two runs.
“That’s the thing, it’s a weight and balance,” UH coach Rich Hill said of going with his usual starting lineup. “Do you keep these guys in the rhythm of the game and the rhythm of the season, or do you risk injury in a game that’s not going to count in the (RPI) standings? I chose to keep our guys in the rhythm. I think guys like to keep playing, especially Nahaku. When he’s in that rhythm, you let him keep going.”
Nahaku said: “I feel in rhythm,, for sure. I keep having those good at-bats, and I had that feeling today.”
Hill conceded he was wary of the Sharks. “Coming in these guys were very offensive, especially the first five hitters,” Hill said. “And they showed that tonight. That’s a very well-coached team over there, and they played with a lot of heart tonight.”
The Sharks scored three runs in the eighth to close to 10-8. Bronson Rivera walked and came home on Tyler Arnold’s double to right-center. Arnold scored on Troy Harding’s single to the left side.
Ethan Thomas, UH’s ninth pitcher, was summoned to replace Kyle Dobbins. Thomas struck out Frankie Peralez and induced Owen Wessel to ground out to first. Harding scored on Kan Taguchi’s single to cut the deficit to 10-8. But then Thomas struck out Skyler Agnew to end the eighth-inning threat.
It was a homecoming of sorts for HPU left fielder Rivera, a Konawaena High graduate who played three seasons with the ’Bows. Rivera entered the game with 13 home runs in the Sharks’ first 33 games. Rivera had two singles and a walk in four plate appearances against the ’Bows. With the bases loaded in the fifth, the ’Bows brought in left-handed Jimmy Urban to face the left-swinging Rivera. Rivera smacked a single to center to drive in two runs and close the Sharks to 8-5.
Like most mid-week games, this intra-island battle was deemed a “staff” outing in which both teams used several pitchers. Freddy Rodriguez, who started for UH, pitched a scoreless first inning. Taguchi opened with a single but was out at second on a fielder’s choice grounder. With two outs, Noah Blythe was thrown out trying to steal second to end the first.
Danny Veloz yielded HPU third baseman Arnold’s three-run homer as the Sharks closed to 5-3 in the second. But Max Jones got the final two outs of the second inning, and then pitched a scoreless third.
Zac Tenn was the most impressive UH pitcher, allowing one hit in two innings.
The ’Bows improved to 21-6 ahead of this weekend’s series against Long Beach State. The Sharks fell to 19-15.
