Box Score | Box Score (pdf)

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors baseball team (19-23, 8-8 Big West) made a strong start to the Long Beach State (26-18, 9-7 Big West) series, jumping out in the middle innings and holding the line for the 6-3 victory, courtesy of a strong closing performance from Lawrence Chew.

Back at home for the first time after a seven-game road swing that produced a rough 1-6 record, the 'Bows played tough in all phases on Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium, breaking open a pitcher's duel between starters Kyle Von Ruden and Chris Mathewson in the fourth.

After three scoreless innings that saw each team garner only one hit apiece, Johnny Weeks made his first strike on a big evening for the Long Beach-native third baseman. Weeks logged a one-out double, setting up the first UH score, as Jacob Sheldon-Collins followed with an RBI single. The senior shortstop went on to score from second on a Marcus Doi single to left field. With the bases loaded, right fielder Alex Fitchett broke the inning open with a two-out single line shot driven through the right side, but the 'Bows added a third as Ethan Lopez scored on a throwing error from the outfield, granting UH the 5-0 lead.

Across the next two frames, the Dirtbags fought back, putting up three runs to trim the UH advantage to only two runs and put some added pressure on Von Ruden. The Rainbow Warriors went to the bullpen with a shutdown start in the seventh by the left-hander, Chew.

In the bottom of the seventh, second baseman Josh Rojas set the table for a much-needed insurance run, dumping a one-out double into shallow left field. Two batters later, Weeks added a career-high second double deep down the left field line, this time for the RBI and a 6-3 UH lead.

Chew continued on his path to his first save of the season, allowing no hits to preserve the UH advantage and hold off the Dirtbags for the series-opening 6-3 victory, snapping a five-game losing skid.

Von Ruden (6-1) earned the victory after 6.0 innings, allowing six hits and three earned runs. Von Ruden logged no strikeouts but induced 12 groundouts and five outfield flies.

The 'Bows dealt 2015 Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year Mathewson (5-4) the loss, tying his career high of five runs surrendered on nine hits. Mathewson walked two and struck out five.

Highlighting 10 Rainbow Warriors hits on the night, Doi collected his 11th multi-hit game of the year with a 3-for-4 performance, chipping in one RBI and a run. Playing against the hometown team, Weeks was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run as well. Fitchett was 1-for-3 with two RBI.

The Rainbow Warriors and Dirtbags return to action on Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.