HONOLULU – Redshirt freshman Alex Baeza delivered in the 11th hour for University of Hawai'i baseball (10-6), walking off the Rainbow Warriors with a crucial double to produce a 7-6 win over Illinois State (8-7) on Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium.

Stepping in for just his 10th at-bat after entering as a defensive substitution in the top of the ninth, Baeza faced a two-out, bases-loaded situation with a two-run deficit to the visiting Redbirds. The South Jordan, Utah first baseman squared the second pitch he saw from Trevor Cross, slicing a curving double deep into left center field, driving Troy Kakugawa, Kekai Rios and Chayce Ka'aua across the plate.

Baeza's second double of the year produced the fourth lead change of the night after the Redbirds twice gained the upper hand on the homestanding Rainbow Warriors, who moved ahead in the series, 2-0.
 

Attaboy, Baeza?????? Walk-off 3-run DOUBLE and @HawaiiBaseball WINS, 7-6!!! #HawaiiBSB #GoBows we see u, @abaeza43 ?? pic.twitter.com/HZHzaX8WuM

— Spectrum Sports HI (@specsportshi) March 17, 2018

 
Breaking a pitching stalemate after 11 batters came up without a runner, right fielder Adam Fogel jumpstarted the scoring with a two-out, ground-rule double in the right center alley, touching the plate one pitch later as designated hitter Logan Pouelsen fired an RBI single through the right side.
 
The Redbirds wasted little time crafting their response, as Joe Aeilts logged a leadoff single in the fifth, scoring quickly on Jordan Libman's RBI single to center field. Illinois State firmly grabbed the advantage in the sixth with top hitter Collin Braithwaite's three-run homer into the left field trees for the 4-1 lead.
 
Hawai'i worked its way back to tie in the seventh and eighth frames, as Ka'aua launched a two-out, two-run blast, on his birthday, to cut the deficit to a single run. Senior Eric Ramirez finished the job with an RBI double off the right field wall to score Kakugawa and knot the game at 4-4.
 
Despite a solid relief appearance for freshman Jeremy Yelland, ninth-inning leadoff hitter Nick Zouras reached on error and joined Libman as scorers in the final frame. In spite of the 6-4 Redbird lead, three hits and a walk in the home half reversed the Rainbow Warriors' fortunes on Baeza's heroics.
 
Throwing 1.2 innings of relief, Yelland (1-0) earned his first career win, while starter Dominic DeMiero tossed 7.0 innings with six hits and four runs, striking out six.
 
On top of Baeza's 1-for-1 outing with three RBI, Ka'aua went 2-for-2 with two RBI and the winning run, while Rios was 2-for-5 with one run.
 
The Rainbow Warriors lead the series 2-0 and return to action Saturday against Illinois State for 16 innings of baseball. Saturday's doubleheader at Les Murakami Stadium is slated for a 1:05 p.m. start.