HONOLULU – Vinnie Catricala hit a three-run, walk-off home run into the wind, bouncing off the top of the fence in left field in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the University of Hawai`i Rainbow baseball team (4-6) a 7-4 win over No. 26 Mississippi State (8-2) in front of a crowd of 2,498 at Les Murakami Stadium Friday. Sam Spangler (1-0) pitched 2.0 shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three to get the win while Lee Swingle (0-1) got the loss.

 

After getting the first two batters of the inning out to start the bottom of the ninth, Swindle walked both Greg Garcia and Kolten Wong to face Catricala. With a 2-1 count, the junior sent a ball deep to left, fighting the wind all the way. MSU leftfielder Nick Hardy jumped to try to make the catch at the fence, but the ball went just over his glove, hitting the top of the fence before bouncing out of the stadium.

 

Catricala ended the game 1-for-3 with the three-run home run. Garcia ended up 1-for-3 with two runs and one RBI while Wong was 1-for-3 with a run. Ryan Morford added a 1-for-4 game with one run and one RBI. Nate Klein pitched well, allowing just three earned runs in 7.0 innings, striking out six, in a no-decision.

 

Hawai`i got on the board first as Morford and Garcia hit back-to-back RBI-singles. Morford then scored on an error before Garcia later came in on a balk, putting UH ahead 4-0.

 

But Mississippi State responded, scoring single runs in the third and fourth innings before Ryan Duffy hit a big two-run homer to right-center, tying the game at 4-4.

 

The two teams continue the series tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium before the finale on Sunday, March 8, at 1:05 p.m.