Box score

Mesa, Ariz. – After nearly three hours and 40 minutes and 28 total runs, the University of Hawai'i baseball team outlasted Louisiana Tech (34-27), 18-10, at the 2011 WAC Tournament. The Rainbows (34-24) now advance to play Fresno State tonight at 7:45 p.m. 

Zach Swasey batted 4-6 with one run and three RBI to lead UH. Jeffrey Van Doornum batted 3-4 with two runs and Sean Montplaisir added two hits, three runs, and four RBI. 

The Rainbows threw five pitchers on the mound with Randy Yard (3-0) earning the win in two scoreless innings of work. Kyle Roliard (1-3) was tagged with the loss for LaTech, pitching 3.2 innings allowing eight runs on seven hits. 

Mark Threlkeld (2-6, 1 R, 3 RBI) and Alex Williams (2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI) led the Bulldogs at the plate. 

LaTech grabbed a short-lived 2-0 lead before the Rainbows exploded with seven runs in the second inning. After Collin Bennett (1 H, 1 R, 1 RBI) scored on a bases-loaded walk, Kalani Brackenridge (1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) gave UH the lead with a two-RBI base hit to left field. Then, following a Montplaisir two-RBI double, Kolten Wong (2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI) crushed a homerun into the bullpen beyond right field for a 7-2 Hawai'i lead. 

The Rainbows pushed the lead to 12-4 and appeared to have control, but the Bulldogs responded with six runs over the next three innings to cut the lead to 12-10. The rally started with a three-run homerun by Threlkeld and continued into the eighth inning. The Rainbows added six insurance runs in the ninth inning though, as they paced to the eighth-run win. 

The 'Bows will need to defeated Fresno State Saturday night to force a winner-take-all game with the Bulldogs on Sunday. 



                                                                                     -UH-