NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The Hawai’i baseball team fell behind early but battled back, leaving the tying run on base in the ninth to drop the series finale at CSUN Sunday, 8-6.
The loss drops the Rainbow Warriors (26-20, 15-12 Big West) into sixth place in the conference standings going into the final weekend as UH is now mathematically eliminated from the race for both a Big West title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Matadors (31-17, 17-10 Big West) jumped out to an early lead for the second straight day, scoring four unearned runs in the first inning. An error with two outs allowed the first run of the frame to come in before a Jacob Simons three-run homer made it 4-0.
The ‘Bows got on the board in the third inning, scoring on a Stone Miyao sacrifice fly to make it 4-1. CSUN put up two runs in the bottom of the inning before UH came back with another run in the fourth inning, as Matt Wong blasted an opposite field homer to lead off the frame, cutting the deficit to 6-2.
CSUN added to its lead with two runs in the sixth, but UH came back with three in the seventh to get back in it. Miyao drove in his second run of the day with an RBI double to make it 8-3 before Jacob Igawa plated two more runs one batter later, trimming the deficit to three.
Hawai’i threatened to tie the game or take the lead in the ninth as the first three batters reached to load the bases with no outs. However, UH was only able to push one of those runs across on an error as a pop up, strikeout and groundout ended the game.
Igawa continued his recent hot streak, going 2-for-5 with two RBIs to record his fifth straight multi-hit game. The senior ended the weekend 8-for-13 with three RBIs to head into his final weekend as a Rainbow Warrior leading the team with a .323 batting average. Miyao also stayed hot at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs to extend his hitting streak to seven games and end the series 6-for-13.
The Rainbow Warriors return home to wrap up the regular season with a series against UC Santa Barbara beginning Thursday at 6:35 p.m.
