HONOLULU – A late rally by the University of Hawaiʻi baseball team fell one run short in a 5-4 defeat at the hands of CSU Bakersfield on Saturday night at Les Murakami Stadium.
 
Trailing by three, Hawaiʻi (9-10) scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to pull within one run of CSU Bakersfield (11-10). The 'Bows put runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth, but Graham Kuck worked out of the jam to preserve the victory for the visitors.
 
The Roadrunners struck first in the top of the second with Nick Grossman's RBI groundout with a runner on third for the 1-0 advantage. CSU Bakersfield's Evan Berkey knocked in two more runs with a single to right in the third for a 3-0 lead.
 
UH scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to cut the deficit down to 3-2. With the bases loaded, Scotty Scott knocked in Tyler Best and Daylen Calicdan.
 
Jake Ortega gave the momentum back to the Roadrunners with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and another RBI single in the seventh.
 
The 'Bows kept battling with RBIs off the bats of Calicdan and Best in the seventh to put the score at 5-4, but that was as close as the home side would get.
 
CSU Bakersfield's Ethan Skuija picked up the win going 6.1 innings while allowing four runs.
 
For Hawaiʻi, starter Dominic DeMiero took his first loss of the season pitching 2.2 innings yielding two earned runs. Cade Smith followed with 4.0 innings, giving up two runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Cade Halemanu and Dylan Thomas closed out the game going 1.1 innings and 1.0 innings, respectively.
 
The series finale between the two sides is set for Sunday, March 17 at 1:05 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium.