With the potential tying run at third and the go-ahead one at first, the Rainbow Pep Band providing the between-pitches beat, and the majority of the 2,653 in attendance chanting, “Let’s go, ’Bows,” the scenario was set for another Hawaii baseball comeback.
And then … pffft.
Maui-reared Ka‘imi Kahalekai struck out Draven Nushida to preserve Long Beach State’s 5-4 victory at Les Murakami Stadium.
In losing two of three this weekend, the ’Bows failed to extend their streak of winning of nine home series in a row. The ’Bows, who fell to 22-8 and 9-6 in the Big West, depart Monday for an eight-game, two-week road trip. The Dirtbags are 12-17 and 6-9.
The Dirtbags scored three unearned runs in the third inning and then add two insurance runs in the ninth for a 5-1 lead.
In his ninth UH at bat, pinch hitter Will Bowen pounded a solo homer over the fence in right field and onto Lower Campus Drive to cut the deficit to 5-2.
One out after second baseman Shunsuke Sakaino singled, Maui-reared Ka‘imi Kahalekai was summoned to replace reliever Tyler Gebb. Kahalekai walked Matthew Miura and gave up a single to Ben Zeigler-Namoa to load the bases. Kamana Nahaku popped up for the second out. Then Jared Quandt blooped an opposite-field single to drive home Sakaino and Miura, and send Zeigler-Namoa to third.
Instead of intentionally walking left-swinging Nushida to create force-outs at every base, LBSU head coach TJ Bruce put his trust in right-handed Kahalekai.
“That’s part of the Dirtbag brand,” Bruce said. “That’s part of what (former coach) Dave Snow built. It’s about trusting your preparation and your stuff. Baseball is a very confrontational game, especially the batter-pitcher matchup. We believe in Ka‘imi.”
In Saturday’s game, Kahalekai came back from a 3-0 count to strike out Nushida on three fastballs. This time, Kahalekai mixed in sliders before striking out Nushida with a fastball to end the game. It was the second save in a row for Kahalekai, a 2024 Kamehameha-Maui graduate who was recruited by UH after de-committing from Texas.
“I didn’t even know if I was facing him again,” Kahalekai said. “I feel every hitter is the same hitter. I go in with my best stuff, and pray the best will happen. … I was throwing sliders. I didn’t throw any sliders (on Saturday). I threw sliders today, and then beat him with the fastball.”
The ’Bows scored the game’s first run on Zeigler- Namoa’s RBI single off the right-field fence.
The Dirtbags then took advantage of errors from UH’s usually reliable middle infielders to take a 3-1 lead in third. Sakaino’s error set up Alex Champagne’s run-scoring groundout. Later, shortstop Jordan Donahue committed a two-run error.
“Physical errors are part of the game,” UH coach Rich Hill said. “You saw that today. Both those guys have been outstanding their whole career so we’ll flush it and move on defensively. Both those two guys are superstar defenders in my opinion.”
Entering the ninth with a 3-1 lead, the Dirtbags maintained an aggressive approach at the plate. Kyle Ashworth and Armando Briseno each had RBI singles to make it 5-1.
“That’s part of knowing the environment,” said Bruce, who brought teams to Hawaii two times previously. “This crowd is amazing. The culture here is amazing. Just knowing a Coach Hill-type team, they’re not going to quit. The goal was to try to get a fourth run. But I didn’t want to lay down and give runs away, either. We stayed aggressive offensively.”
Of the ’Bows’ late surge, Hill said, “great rally. That’s a real staple of this team. We don’t give up. Obviously, the Manoa Magic is very real. Having a ninth-inning rally right there and having the tying run at third base and the go-ahead run at first, great testament to the character of this team.”
The ’Bows could not cash in with the bases loaded in the fourth. With runners at the corners in the sixth, a sliding Sakaino was called out on a grounder to first. Because the game was not televised, there was no mechanism to challenge the ruling, although it appeared Sakaino reached the bag first.
“He’s out because the umpire said he was out,” Hill said. “You know, it’s pass interference because the (referee) said it’s pass interference. Calls aren’t going to go your way, and they didn’t go our way today. We still want to put ourselves in position to where a bad call (doesn’t) affect us.”
Sunday’s game
LONG BEACH STATE 5, HAWAII 4
DIRTBAGS AB R H BI BB SO LOB
Ashworth rf 5 0 1 1 0 0 1
Champagne cf 4 1 0 1 0 1 0
Briseno ss 4 1 2 1 0 0 0
Charpiot 1b 4 0 0 0 1 0 3
Toomey dh 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
Samayoa ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cadena 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 2
Montgomery lf 4 0 0 0 0 4 0
Ortega c 4 2 2 0 0 1 0
Elliot 2b 3 1 2 0 0 1 1
Totals 36 5 8 3 1 7 8
RAINBOW WARRIORS AB R H BI BB SO LOB
Sakaino 2b 5 2 2 0 0 0 5
Donahue ss 5 0 1 0 0 0 0
Miura cf 3 1 0 0 2 0 0
Zeigler-Namoa 1b 5 0 3 1 0 0 1
Nahaku lf 5 0 0 0 0 0 1
Quandt rf 3 0 2 2 2 0 2
Nushida dh/3b 4 0 0 0 1 2 2
Kinzie 3b 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Salmon ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Vergel de Dios c1 0 0 0 0 1 0
Kuni ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Faildo c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Takemoto ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bowen ph 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
Totals 34 4 9 4 7 4 12
Long Beach St. 003 000 002 — 5 8 1
Hawaii 100 000 003 — 4 9 3
Records:
Long Beach States (12-17, 6-9 Big West)
Hawaii (22-8, 9-6 Big West)
E—Cadena, Sakaino, Donahue. DP—Long
Beach State 1. LOB—Long Beach State 8,
Hawaii 12.
2B—Ortega, Quandt. HR—Bowen. HBP—
Champagne; Briseno; Kinzie. SH—Elliot,
Kinzie. SB—Quandt.
LONG BEACH STATE IP H R ER BB SO
Geiss (W, 4-5) 51
⁄3 5 1 1 5 1
Gebb 3 2 2 2 1 2
Kahalekai (S, 2) 2
⁄3 2 1 1 1 1
HAWAII IP H R ER BB SO
Walls 42
⁄3 4 3 0 1 3
Gonzalez 31
⁄3 0 0 0 0 2
Magdaleno 1 4 2 2 0 2
HB—by Walls (Champagne); by Walls
(Briseno); by Geiss (Kinzie). Umpires—
HP: Chris Maher. 1B: Bradley Hungerford.
3B: AJ Lostaglio. T—3:04. A—4,094 (tickets issued), 2,653 (turnstile).
Saturday’s game
LONG BEACH STATE 3, HAWAII 2
DIRTBAGS AB R H BI BB SO LOB
Ashworth rf 2 1 0 0 3 1 0
Champagne cf 4 0 0 0 1 1 1
Briseno ss 3 1 1 1 2 0 0
Charpiot 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 4
Toomey dh 3 0 0 1 1 2 2
Montgomery lf 2 0 0 1 1 2 0
Elliot 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 2
Cadena 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 0
Ortega c 3 1 1 0 0 1 1
Totals 28 3 3 3 8 11 10
RAINBOW WARRIORS AB R H BI BB SO LOB
Sakaino 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 0
Donahue ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 0
Miura cf 4 1 1 0 0 0 1
Zeigler-Namoa 1b 4 0 1 1 0 1 0
Nahaku lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1
Quandt rf 3 1 1 1 1 1 0
Nushida dh 4 0 1 0 0 2 0
Kinzie 3b 2 0 0 0 1 2 0
Kuni ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
Vergel c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Salmon ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
Palmeira c 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
Takemoto ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Nielsen pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Faildo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 32 2 5 2 3 9 6
Long Beach St. 003 000 000 — 3 3 1
Hawaii 011 000 000 — 2 5 1
Records:
Long Beach States (11-17, 5-9 Big West)
Hawaii (22-7, 9-5 Big West)
E—Fields; Donahue. DP—Hawaii 2. LOB—
Long Beach State 10, Hawaii 6. HR—
Quandt. HBP—Charpiot, Cadena, Ortega.
SF—Montgomery.
LONG BEACH STATE IP H R ER BB SO
Fields 3 4 2 2 1 0
Roblez (W, 2-0) 51
⁄3 1 0 0 2 8
Kahalekai (S,1) 2
⁄3 0 0 0 0 1
HAWAII IP H R ER BB SO
O’Brien (L, 2-1) 21
⁄3 2 3 3 3 2
Tenn 12
⁄3 1 0 0 3 1
Ronan 2 0 0 0 1 3
Rodriguez 2 0 0 0 1 2
Thomas 1 0 0 0 0 3
HB—O’Brien 2, Rodriguez. Umpires—HP:
AJ Lostaglio. 1B: Chris Maher. 3B: Bradley
Hungerford. T—3:19. A—4,585 (tickets issued), 3,333 (turnstile).
BIG WEST BASEBALL
Conference Overall
W L Pct. GB W L
Cal Poly 12 0 1.000 — 22 8
UC Irvine 11 1 .917 1 23 7
Hawaii 9 6 .600 41
⁄2 22 7
CS Fullerton 9 6 .600 41
⁄2 17 15
CS Bakersfield 6 6 .500 6 11 21
UCSB 7 8 .467 61
⁄2 20 10
UCSD 5 7 .417 7 14 16
LBSU 6 9 .400 71
⁄2 12 17
UC Davis 4 8 .333 8 14 15
UC Riverside 3 12 .200 101
⁄2 12 19
CS Northridge 3 12 .200 101
⁄2 7 20
Sunday
Long Beach State 5, Hawaii 4
Cal State Fullerton 10, CS Northridge 8
Cal State Bakersfield 3, UC Riverside 1
Cal Poly 12, UC San Diego 11
UC Santa Barbara 8, UC Davis 2
x-Oregon State 7, UC Irvine 4
x—nonconference
Today
x-UC Davis at Stanford
Tuesday
x-Hawaii at Santa Clara
x-CS Northridege at Arizona State
x-Lincoln at CS Bakersfield
x-Pepperdine at UC Santa Barbara
x-San Jose State at Cal Poly
x-Long Beach State at UCLA
x-Sacramento State at UC Davis
x-UC San Diego at San Diego
