LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The No. 20 University of Hawai'i Rainbow baseball team (25-14, 8-4 WAC) out-slugged the New Mexico State Aggies (32-9, 7-6) 12-10 in the series-opener at Presley Askew Field Friday. Jayson Kramer (4-3) pitched well, allowing five runs in 6.0 innings to get the win. Sam Spangler picked up the save, striking out five in 2.2 innings, while Tyler Sturdevant (4-4) got the loss for NMSU.

 

Sean Montplaisir had a big game, going 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, three RBI and two runs. Vinnie Catricala had a 2-for-4 game with a homer, three RBI and two runs while Kevin Macdonald was 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and two runs. Ryan Morford added a 3-for-4 game with two runs and two doubles while Greg Garcia went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs. Kolten Wong extended his hitting streak to 13 games, going 2-for-5 with a triple, a run and one RBI. Jeffrey Van Doornum also had a two-hit game, going 2-for-5 with a run and a double.

 

The Rainbow offense got it going early. Montplaisir hit a solo homer to start the first inning. Wong later tripled in a run before scoring on an Aggie error, giving Hawai'i the 3-0 edge early. NMSU responded in the bottom of the first, scoring a run to get it to 3-1.

 

Montplaisir struck again in the second inning, hitting an RBI-single with two outs. Catricala then added to the two-out rally, driving in another run to get it to 5-1. But the Aggies came back with three runs on just one hit in the bottom of the second, cutting it back to 5-4.

 

Macdonald drew a bases-loaded walk to give the 'Bows another run to get it to 6-4 in the top of the fourth. But UH left the bases loaded and it would come back to haunt the Rainbows as NMSU put up another run in the bottom of the fourth, getting it back to a one-run game at 6-5.

 

Macdonald drove in another run in the sixth inning, then scored on an RBI-single by Landon Hernandez, getting it to 8-5.

 

New Mexico State got the Rainbow bullpen in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs to cut it back to 8-7. But Macdonald would strike again in the eighth, hitting a solo home run to put UH's lead back up to 9-7.

 

The Aggies added another run in the bottom of the eighth to get it back to a one-run game at 9-8. Montplaisir doubled in an insurance run in the top of the ninth before Catricala hit a two-run homer, getting it to 12-8.

 

NMSU got a two-run home run from Wade Reynoso in the bottom of the ninth, but came up short as Spangler struck out the side to give UH the 12-10 victory.

 

Hawai'i continues the series tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 3:05 p.m. (11:05 a.m. HST). The series will then conclude with a game on Sunday, Apr. 26, at 1:05 p.m. (9:05 a.m. HST).