Box Score

HONOLULU - The University of Hawai`i Rainbow baseball team (25-23, 12-10 WAC) won a pitcher's duel over the Fresno State Bulldogs (25-26, 11-11) 4-1 in front of a crowd of 2,652 at Les Murakami Stadium Thursday. Stephen Bryant (7-3) gave up only one run while tying a career-high with 11 strikeouts in his first career 9.0-inning complete game. Matt Garza (5-5) also pitched well, striking out 10 in 7.0 innings, but took the loss.

Esteban Lopez carried the big bat for the 'Bows, going 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Derek DuPree added a 1-for-3 game with a run and RBI.

The Rainbows opened up the scoring in the bottom of the second as DuPree drew a bases loaded walk to score Nathan Thurber, giving UH a quick 1-0 lead. But the Bulldogs came back in the top of the fifth, as Ryan Overland drove in Chase Moore to tie the game at one.

But Lopez then put Hawai`i ahead in the bottom of the seventh, drilling his first homer of the season, going the opposite way to right field. Erik Ammon then hit a run-scoring single to right-center, scoring DuPree, to push the UH advantage to 3-1. Lopez would add an insurance run, driving in Jonathan Hee in the eighth to make it 4-1.

In the meantime, Bryant was dominant in his final home start, retiring 12 of the final 13 batters he faced in his longest career outing.

The two teams will play again tomorrow with Justin Costi (2-4) pitching against Fresno State's Doug Fister (5-5) at Les Murakami Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.

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