HONOLULU - Kolten Wong hit three home runs to lead the University of Hawai`i Rainbow baseball team (10-6) to a 6-5 victory over the Loyola Marymount Lions (8-11) at Les Murakami Stadium Sunday. Sam Spangler (2-0) picked up the victory for the 'Bows, completing UH's first sweep in a four-game series since March, 2007. Chris Eusebio (1-2) took the loss for the Lions.

 

Wong became just the fifth Rainbow in program history to hit three homers in a game, the first since Mark McWherter hit three at Brigham Young on May 6, 1988. He was just the second player in school history to hit home runs in three-straight at bats, joining Mario Monico, who accomplished the feat on May 17, 1985, against Utah in a WAC Tournament game in Provo, Utah.

 

Wong ended the game 3-for-4 with five RBI. Kevin Macdonald added a 2-for-3 game with a home run and a double while Greg Garcia and Sean Montplaisir both had one hit and one run apiece. Matt Sisto allowed three runs in 5.2 innings in the start.

 

Macdonald smacked a solo home run in the second inning to put the Rainbows on the board. Wong then got it to 2-0 with his first homer in the fourth inning.

 

LMU's Ollie Enos hit a three-run homer in the top of the sixth, putting the Lions ahead 3-2. But Wong quickly erased the deficit with another solo home run in the bottom of the sixth.

 

The freshman then came up with the biggest blast of all in the bottom of the eighth, hitting a three-run shot to right-centerfield, giving Hawai`i a 6-3 advantage. LMU was able to put up a couple runs in the top of the ninth before Spangler closed the door on a 6-5 victory.

 

The Rainbows will now head on the road to play in the Rose City Baseball Invitational in Portland, Ore., from March 20-22. UH opens the invitational with a doubleheader on Friday, March 20, facing Washington at 12 p.m. (9 a.m. HST) and Portland at 3:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. HST). The 'Bows will then follow the tournament with a single game at Oregon State on Monday, March 23.