HONOLULU – The University of Hawai`i Rainbow baseball team (22-12, 5-3 WAC) hung on to beat the Sacramento State Hornets (20-15, 1-4) 5-4 in front of a crowd of 3,669 at Les Murakami Stadium Friday. Jayson Kramer (3-3) allowed just two runs in 8.0 innings, striking out seven, to get the win. Sam Spangler got the save. Chris Baek (3-4) got the loss for the Hornets.

 

Kevin Macdonald and Kolten Wong provided the major firepower. Macdonald homered while going 1-for-3 with two RBI and two runs. Wong added a homer and three RBI while Vinnie Catricala was 2-for-4 with two runs. Landon Hernandez also had a 2-for-4 game.

 

Macdonald got the Rainbows on the board early, hitting a two-run homer to centerfield, giving UH the 2-0 edge in the bottom of the first.

 

The Hornets picked up a run in the top of the third to cut it back to 2-1. But Wong then came up big in the bottom half of the inning, hitting a line-drive, three-run homer to right, pushing the Hawai`i lead to 5-1.

 

Kramer got into a little bit of trouble in the eighth, letting the first three runners on base. But Macdonald was able to throw out a runner at the plate on a fielder's choice before a Kramer strike out got UH two outs. Sacramento State got a RBI-single by Jeff Roth before a ground out ended the inning with minimal damage.

 

Sacramento State got a two-run homer by Brett Hottman in the top of the ninth, cutting it back to 5-4. But Spangler settled down and got the final two batters out, giving UH the one-run victory.

The series continues tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 3:05 p.m. The first game is scheduled for nine innings with the second scheduled for seven.

 

-UH-