Were you entertained?
Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso is not so sure, but all’s well that ends well Sunday.
Alex Baeza hit a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Rainbow Warriors to an 8-7 victory against Iowa for a series split at Les Murakami Stadium in Honolulu.
UH (3-5) rallied from a six-run deficit, scoring four times in the seventh, and received a strong relief outing by Dylan Thomas (1-0), who struck out nine in five innings.
“It feels good to win,” Trapasso said in a video posted on the team’s Twitter account. “We pitched so poorly this weekend, and we finally got someone, in Dylan Thomas, to come out and throw strikes.”
The Hawkeyes (4-2) swept a doubleheader Saturday, scoring 16 runs thanks to 10 walks, and Trapasso was irked that Logan Pouelsen, Kash Koltermann and Cade Halemanu combined to walk five more.
“Happy for our guys, there is no quit in the guys,” Trapasso said. “We just have to pitch better and play better defense than what we did this weekend.
“I’m sure (Iowa coach) Rick (Heller) is over there saying the same thing. It was really a series of poor pitching. I don’t know if it was entertaining baseball.”
From the perspective of the ‘Bows, the entertainment value started to pick up in the sixth when Baeza (2 for 5) hit a solo home run to make it 7-2. With one out in the seventh, Scotty Scott was hit by a pitch, Kamehameha-Hawaii alum Dallas Duarte singled and Adam Fogel followed with a run-scoring double. After Baeza walked, Duarte scored on a wild pitch and Maaki Yamazaki came through with a two-run single.
Hawaii was down to its last out in the ninth, but Kamehameha grad Daylen Calicdan came on as pinch-runner after Poulesen walked, and Calicdan raced around the bases on three wild pitches to tie the game.
Thomas only walked one batter, allowing two hits and a run.
“When you throw strikes and put up zeroes you have a chance to win games,” Trapasso said. “Good to have Dylan back. He settled the game when it was out of hand.”
Duarte, a catcher/infielder, was 1 for 4 with two walks and two runs scored and is hitting .346 (9 for 26) in starting all eight games. Calicdan, an infielder/outfielder, is 2 for 17 so far, making five starts.
Jeremy Wu-Yelland pitched five hitless inning as UH won Friday’s opener 7-1.
“It was a split, and I think we feel fortunate to come away with one with the way we pitched early,” Trapasso said.
Vuls start cold
UH-Hilo’s men’s golfers did not pass their first big test of the spring season, but there is makeup time Monday and Tuesday.
Taylor Patrick carded a a 2-over 74 as the Vulcans came in at 16-over 304 and were 12th of 14 teams after the first of three rounds at the Bay Area Invitational in San Francisco.
Concordia (Ore.) led the way at 9-under 280, and Spencer Rhodes and Luke Travins were at 68 and 69. respectively. for the Cavaliers.
Andrew Otani shot for 76 UHH and he was followed by Warren Miller (77), Jared Kinoshita (77) and Evan Merrier (78).
Nicole Lopez hit two two-run home runs for UH’s softball team (12-4), while Brittany Hitchcock (3-3) earned the complete game win as the Wahine beat Canisius 7-2.
SandBows split
The No. 5 University of Hawaii beach volleyball team went 1-1 for the second consecutive day at the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic in Honolulu, falling to No. 1 UCLA, 5-0, then beating No. 11 Stanford 3-2.
Sunday
UCLA 5, Hawaii 0
1: N. McNamara/M. McNamara (UCLA) def. Ozee/Martin (UH) 21-17, 13-21, 15-6
2: Sponcil/Justine (UCLA) def. Huddleston/Maglio (UH) 14-21, 22-20, 15-12
3: Abby Van Winkle/Zana Muno (UCLA) def. Scoles/Homayun (UH) 21-13, 21-18
4: Mac May/Savy Simo (UCLA) def. Napoleon/Loker (UH) 21-17, 21-18
5: Muret/Carey (UCLA) def. Dreeuws/Banz (UH) 20-22, 21-17, 15-7
Hawaii 3, Stanford 2
1: Charlie Ekstrom/Sunny Villapando (STAN) def. Ozee/Martin (UH) 21-19, 8-21, 20-18
2: Tori Ashkinos/Courtney Bowen (STAN) def. Maglio/Huddleston (UH) 16-21, 21-12, 15-9
3: Homayun/Scoles (UH) def. Dailey/Hentz (STAN) 21-9, 21-14
4: Loker/Napoleon (UH) def. Amelia Smith/Blake Sharp (STAN) 21-18, 21-15
5: Banz/Dreeuws (UH) def. Melissa Daniel/Jordan McKinney (STAN) 21-11, 21-7
Saturday
Hawaii 4, Saint Mary’s 1
1: Emily Maglio/Hi’ilawe Huddleston (UH) def. Lindsey Knudsen/Sarah Chase (SMC) 21-18, 21-14
2: Martin/Ozee (UH) def. Emily Bible/Lindsey Calvin (SMC) 21-10, 21-11
3: Homayun/Scoles (UH) def. Alexsa Parker/Sienna Young (SMC) 21-10, 21-12
4: Napoleon/Loker (UH) def. Morgan Kendrick/Jennifer Laird (SMC) 21-9, 21-15
5: Cowell/Christensen (SMC) def. Dreeuws/Russo (UH) 13-21, 21-19, 15-11
Pepperdine 3, Hawaii 2
1: Brook Bauer/Heidi Dyer (PEP) def. Huddleston/Maglio (UH) 21-16, 21-15
2: Ozee/Morgan Martin (UH) def. Gigi Hernandez/Deahna Kraft (PEP) 21-15, 21-11
3: Homayun/Julia Scoles (UH) def. Skylar Caputo/Jenna Tunnell (PEP) 21-16, 21-9
4: Dilfer/Filippone (PEP) def. Napoleon/Loker (UH) 21-19, 21-13
5: Katie Gavin/Nikki Lyons (PEP) def. Regan Hurkett/Presley Forbes (UH) 21-18, 21-16