HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i baseball team completed the three-game series sweep of Hawaii Hilo on Sunday with a 13-0 shutout win at Les Murakami Stadium.
The Rainbow Warriors' pitching held the Vulcans (0-3) to three hits in the game and their second shutout of the season, the first season with multiple shutouts since 2018 when Hawai'i (8-2) pitchers threw three shutouts.
In his first start and return to competition since March 5, 2020, senior
Logan Pouelsen tossed 3.0 innings allowing no runs, just one hit, and a pair of strikeouts.
Pouelsen showed off his defensive abilities after giving up a lead-off double to open the game by quickly getting off the mound to field an attempted sacrifice bunt and fire over to third base to get the advancing Vulcan runner. Pouelsen went on to strike out two Hilo batters in the inning.
Scheduled to start game three of the regularly scheduled four-game series, freshman
Austin Teixeira came in and pitched 5.0 innings of one-hit work and three strikeouts. Teixeira continued his run of three games without allowing an earned run. The freshman was not credited with a win as the day was designated a "staff day," otherwise the Saint Louis School grad would be one of just three freshmen in the country with three wins.
The bats came alive in the finale with a series-high 17 hits including career-highs in hits for a game from junior's
Kole Kaler – four hits – and
Matt Campos – three hits.
Two Rainbow Warriors hit three-run home runs in the game including the first career home run from freshman
Safea Villaruz-Mauai. Villaruz-Mauai hit his homer in the seventh inning and redshirt junior
Alex Baeza hit his three-run homer in the sixth. Villaruz-Mauai's opposite field home run to left field is a very rare sight at Les Murakami Stadium.
Baeza and Kaler both hit 1.000 on the day with Baeza picking up his first two hits of the series – 2-2 – and Kaler his first 4-hit day – 4-4.
Hawai'i hung crooked numbers on UH Hilo in the second, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings off with four runs in the fifth and three in the sixth. The Rainbow Warriors scored runs in five total innings, including at least one run in the third through seventh innings.
Redshirt junior
Calvin Turchin came in for the ninth inning and closed the door retiring the side in order.
The Rainbow Warriors open Big West Conference play Friday March 19 at Les Murakami Stadium when the Dirtbags of Long Beach State come to Manoa. The series is LBSU's first series of the season.