Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso had his ace on the mound and liked the matchup at the plate.

Jacob Felts simply made a better play.

Hawaii senior Matt Cooper stayed in to face Felts with the tying run on second and one out in the eighth inning. Felts came through with the game-winning hit, scoring Mark Payton to give No. 10 Texas a 3-2 win over Hawaii on Friday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas.

Texas (11-3) picked up its 11th win in 12 games by handing Cooper (2-1) his first loss of the year.

Cooper ran his streak of consecutive innings without an earned run to 2413 before freshman Andy McGuire’s RBI double in the fourth.

Felts’ hit on Cooper’s 111th pitch ended the UH senior’s night after 713 innings. The right-hander allowed three runs on nine hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

"That’s as good as it gets," Texas coach Augie Garrido told The Longhorn Network after the game. "(Cooper) got three pitches over the plate and can use his changeup at any time, whatever the count is."

Payton has reached base in 53 consecutive games and singled to lead off the bottom of the eighth.

After the senior was sacrificed to second, Cooper issued his first walk of the game to Kacy Clemens to bring up Felts.

He singled through the right side to bring home Payton, who beat the tag of catcher Trevor Podratz at the plate for the winning run.

"He was definitely tired and it was probably going to be his last batter," Trapasso said of his ace. "With Coop, he’s a senior and he’s very honest and he’ll let me know if he’s got anything left in the tank and honestly, I liked Cooper as a better fit (to Felts) than Gordon (Cardenas).

"Coop made the pitch in on his hands and fisted it into the four-hole and got the hit."

Hawaii (6-7) broke out to an early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning off Texas starter Parker French, who didn’t factor into the decision.

French, who had given up only two earned runs in 18 innings coming in, allowed consecutive RBI singles to Juliene Jones and Jordan Richartz to fall into an early hole.

He settled down to get Podratz to pop to second as he retired 16 of the next 18 UH batters he faced.

"If you’re going to beat a guy like French, you’ve got to get to him early and we did that with two runs," Trapasso said. "We saw the French that we had heard about. He’s good and he’s a competitor."

UH freshman Marcus Doi, who made his first start in seven games, ended French’s day with a one-out single in the eighth. Lefty Travis Duke (1-0) came in to record two straight outs and earn the win after Texas scored in the bottom of the eighth.

John Curtiss picked up his first save, allowing a one-out walk to Richartz in the ninth. Texas’ regular closer, Nathan Thornhill, will start the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader since it’s a four-game series.

French wound up allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

"He showed trust in his teammates," Garrido said. "(Hawaii) got some momentum and he got surprised, but he settled back down and pitched a wonderful game."

Five Rainbow Warriors had a hit, with Kaeo Aliviado, Doi and Richartz reaching base twice.

Cardenas replaced Cooper and got two straight outs to keep Texas from adding to its lead.

Saturday’s doubleheader has been moved up an hour due to the possibility of bad weather later in the day. First pitch is scheduled for 8 a.m. Hawaii time. Game 1 is scheduled for seven innings, followed by a nine-inning game, weather permitting.

E—Clemens. DP—Texas 1. LOB—Hawaii 5; Texas 7. 2B—McGuire. 3B—Felts. SH—Hinojosa.

Umpires—(Plate): Matt McKendry. (First): Tim Henderson. (Third): Randy Christal. T—2:17. A—4,915.