Tribune-Herald
Tribune-Herald
Connor George continues to be at the center of the University of Hawaii’s offensive upswing.
George’s two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday broke a tie as the Warriors beat Cal Santa Barbara 6-4 to take two of three in the Big West series in Honolulu.
Kaeo Aliviado led off the eighth with a walk and advanced to second on Marc Flores’ single up the middle. Then George scored both runners with a double to right.
With the two-bagger, the junior right fielder extended his hit streak to eight straight for the Warriors (7-17, 2-1 Big West baseball), who have scored at least six runs in six of their past seven contests.
Flores finished 3 for 3 with three runs scored, and Adam Hurley led off the fifth inning with a game-tying solo homer for Hawaii.
Jon Finn (1-2), who pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, picked up the win. Matt Cooper started and went seven innings, allowing four runs on five hits. He struck out eight and walked two.
UC-Santa Barbara’s Greg Mahle, who pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief of starter Kenny Chapman, took the loss.
Peter Maris gave the Gauchos (1-2, 13-12) a 4-2 lead with a three-run homer off Cooper in the fourth. Robby Nesovic and Newell Cameron added two hits apiece.
An RBI double by Robby Nesovic (2 for 3) in the top of the first inning stopped Cooper’s scoreless innings streak at 17.
Andre Real tied the game 1-1 with a single in the bottom of the second to score Flores. In the third, Stephen Ventimilia tripled and crossed the plate on Pi’ikea Kitamura’s groundout.
A nonconference game finishes the four-game series at 1:05 p.m. today (OC-16).
Stephens Media contributed to this report.