Flags down, power up.
On a windless Tuesday night, the Hawaii baseball team smacked four home runs en route to a 14-7 victory over Chaminade at Les Murakami Stadium.
On a usual night in Manoa, the crosswinds knock down hard-hit baseballs. This time, a crowd of 1,173 saw the Rainbow Warriors play power ball to win for the sixth time in as many Tuesday games this season. It was the ’Bows’ first four-homer game at home this year. The ’Bows ended a three-game losing streak to improve to 26-13. The Division II Silverswords fell to 17-29.
“It was impressive by all of our guys,” said Ben Zeigler-Namoa, whose three-run shot in a four-run fifth helped the ’Bows retake the lead at 5-4.
The power surge helped the ’Bows rebound from being shut out twice in absorbing a three-game sweep against UC Irvine this past weekend. “I think we humbled ourselves a lot over this last road rip,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “Ultimately, that was our potential tonight.”
Zeigler-Namoa said it was more favorable conditions at Murakami Stadium. “I looked at the flags,” Zeigler-Namoa said, noting they were at ease. “I always look at the flags to see how it’s going.”
Left fielder Kamana Nahaku added a solo homer to lead off the sixth inning and a two-run blast in the ’Bows’ six-run eighth inning.
“I was just happy to be back at the Les,” Nahaku said of his seventh and eighth home runs of the season. “It was the excitement of being back home and seeing all the excitement. I was happy to put on a show for them.”
Nahaku said he attacked fastballs, the second of which landed on Kahele Road beyond the left-field fence. “I was on time with the fastballs, and I was able to do damage with them,” Nahaku said. “It was nice, perfect timing. I was able to find success.”
Shunsuke Sakaino also homered.
“It was 3-1, and I got the head (of the bat) out, and luckily it went out,” Sakaino said.
Trailing 4-1 entering the bottom of the fifth, the ’Bows answered with four runs to take a 5-4 lead.
Kedren Kinzie opened with a single to right and hustled to third on Jordan Donahue’s single to center. Donahue was thrown out at second trying to stretch the hit into a double.
Pinch hitter Jack Salmon singled to center to bring home Kinzie and close the ’Bows to 4-2. Sakaino walked. One out later, Zeigler-Namoa belted a three-run drive over the fence in left-center for a 5-4 lead. It was Zeigler-Namoa’s fourth home run of the season.
After being held scoreless by Liam O’Brien and Charlie Adamson through four innings, the Silverswords scored four runs to take a 4-1 lead in the top of the fifth. Jake Harper hit a one-out single, stole second and went to third on a passed ball. Then Trysten Mooney fought back from a 1-2 count to draw a seven-pitch walk. Safea Villaruz-Mauai, who played his freshman season with the ’Bows, plated Harper with a single to center. Cade Fujii’s run-scoring double gave the Silverswords a 2-1 lead. Max Jones, who replaced Zac Tenn, relinquished a two-run double to Casey Kudell.
But Jones worked out of further damage, and was credited with 12⁄3 scoreless innings to earn the victory.
HAWAII 14, CHAMINADE 7
SILVERSWORDS AB R H BI BB SO LOB
Harper cf 4 1 2 0 0 1 0
Perry ph 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Mooney c 3 1 1 0 1 0 1
DuCoeur ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Villrz.-Mauai 1b 5 2 2 4 0 2 0
Fujii 2b 5 1 2 1 0 1 0
Kudell 3b 5 0 2 2 0 1 2
Karns dh 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
Dorn rf 2 0 1 0 1 0 1
Greb lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 2
Williams ss 3 0 0 0 0 3 1
Banis ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 35 7 11 7 3 9 7
RAINBOW WARRIORS AB R H BI BB SO LOB
Sakaino 2b 4 3 3 2 1 0 0
Miura cf 3 1 0 1 1 0 0
Zeigler 1b 5 2 2 4 0 0 0
Takemoto dh 4 0 1 1 0 1 0
Bowen pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ferguson ph 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
Nahaku lf 3 2 2 3 2 1 1
Quandt rf 4 0 0 0 1 1 2
Kinzie 3b 4 1 1 0 1 0 1
Donahue ss 3 1 1 0 1 0 0
Faildo c 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Salmon ph 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
Palmeira c 1 2 1 1 1 0 0
Totals 34 14 13 14 8 3 5
Chaminade 000 040 003 — 7 11 2
Hawaii 100 041 26x — 14 13 0
Records:
Chaminade (17-29); Hawaii (26-13)
E—Fujii, Kudell. DP—Chaminade 2, Hawaii 1.
LOB—Chaminade 7, Hawaii 5. 2B—Harper, Fujii, Kudell; Zeigler, Palmeira. HR—Villaruz-Mauai;
Sakaino, Zeigler, Nahaku 2. HBP—Perry,
Karns. SF—Miura. SH—Dorn. SB—Harper;
Sakaino, Miura. CS—Kudell; Nahaku.
CHAMINADE IP H R ER BB SO
O’Canas 3 1 1 0 2 1
Zawistoski 1 0 0 0 1 2
Cody (L, 4-4) 1 4 4 4 1 0
Geivet 1 1 2 2 1 0
Castro 2
⁄3 2 1 1 0 0
Chambers 1 3 4 4 2 0
Shimabukuro 1
⁄3 2 2 2 1 0
HAWAII IP H R ER BB SO
O’Brien 2 2 0 0 0 4
Adamson 2 2 0 0 0 0
Tenn 1
⁄3 3 4 4 1 1
Jones (W, 2-0) 12
⁄3 2 0 0 0 1
Rodriguez 1 1 0 0 0 2
Thomas 1 0 0 0 1 0
Raineri 1
⁄3 1 3 3 1 0
Waite 2
⁄3 0 0 0 0 1
Geivet pitched to 1 batter in the 7th
HB—O’Brien, Raineri.
Umpires—HP: John Matson. 1B: Jedd Andrade. 3B: James LeBeau. T—2:58. A—1,173.
