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HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors baseball team (21-26, 10-11 Big West) squeezed out a pair of one-run games in Sunday's doubleheader with UC Riverside (21-27, 8-10 Big West), earning the series victory with 2-1 and 5-4 victories.

With the doubleheader conclusion on Sunday, all three contests in the series were decided by a single run, picking up the first conference series win since sweeping UC Davis in April.

Opening up the day, center fielder Matt LoCoco got the doubleheader rolling in the first, squaring a leadoff double into outer left field and later coming home for the early lead on an Eric Ramirez RBI groundout.

The Highlanders were quick to answer, as Aaron Cisneros opener the second with a leadoff single and came around on a Casey Worden RBI single to tie the game at 1-1.

After five deadlocked innings, catcher Chayce Ka'aua delivered the go-ahead RBI for the 'Bows, lining a first-pitch single into shallow left field with pinch runner Kobi Candaroma at the ready on second base. Setting up the play, freshman designated hitter Kekai Rios launched a leadoff double into the right center alley to open up the seventh.

Working behind a sound start by senior Alex Hatch, relievers Lawrence Chew and Matt Valencia combined to hold UCR to a single hit across the final 2.1 innings of action, with Valencia (3) picking up the save on 1.2 innings of hitless action.

Hatch logged a 6.2-inning start and limited the Highlanders to a single run on six hits, recording four strikeouts. Chew (1-4) held it down for UH in the seventh and eighth, securing his first win of the season.

Returning for the second game, UCR got to starter Brendan Hornung early, but the 'Bows played calm under pressure as the Highlanders tacked up runs in the first and third off an RBI double from Aaron Cisneros and a towering right field homer from Vince Fernandez.

Hawai'i evened the score twice before making their big move, as Ramirez and Marcus Doi went back-to-back for singles in the second and freshman Ethan Lopez made it count with an RBI single. In the fifth, it was Ka'aua who got UH going, logging a one-out double and coming home on a Josh Rojas RBI groundout to tie the game for the last time.

In the sixth, the 'Bows lit up the scoreboard, as Jacob Sheldon-Collins doubled to right field and Eric Ramirez joined him on an intentional walk. Facing off with reliever Keaton Leach, Doi made the Highlanders pay by logging an RBI single and advance to grant UH its first lead at 3-2. Rios followed with an RBI chip shot up the middle and Lopez capped off the three-run inning with an RBI double to the right center alley for the 5-2 advantage.

Fernandez would lead UCR back down the stretch, adding a sacrifice fly in the second and a two-out towering right field home run in the ninth, but it wasn't enough, as reliever Cody Culp finished a three-inning run for his fourth save in the 5-4 series-winning victory.

On the day, Lopez hit 3-for-7 with two RBI to pace the 'Bows, while Rios and Ramirez were both 2-for-5 with an RBI, Ramirez scoring twice. All nine starters tabbed at least a hit on the doubleheader which saw 16 hits for UH.

Next up for UH is the final Big West series of the season, traveling to conference frontrunner No. 22 Cal State Fullerton, May 20-22, with the first two games of the series scheduled for broadcast on ESPN3. The Titans (32-17, 14-4 Big West) earned a 2-1 series win on Sunday at UC Santa Barbara.