HONOLULU – Sophomore Cade Halemanu delivered in a big way for the University of Hawai'i baseball team by twirling 8.1 scoreless innings in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader to win 1-0, and the Rainbow Warriors (11-2, 3-0 Big West) held on for a 6-4 win in the second game of the day to take the series from Long Beach State with the doubleheader sweep. 

The Rainbow Warriors are on a 10 game winning streak, the longest in head coach Mike Trapasso's tenure and the longest since 1998. Hawaii also won its first series against Long Beach State since 2015 and has won three or more games in a row against LBSU for the first time since 2015-16 seasons (four games spanning the two years).
 
Game 1:
Halemanu (2-0) battled the elements throughout the afternoon but managed to spin a gem. In the top of the third, he waited out an 11 minute rain delay to record the final out of the inning by dialing up a strikeout. He finished with a career-high 8.1 scoreless innings, giving up five hits while walking one and striking out four Dirtbags (0-3, 0-3 Big West). Halemanu also got 20 of his outs via the fly out.

After giving up back-to-back singles in the top of ninth, Halemanu saw his afternoon come to an end. The 'Bows called upon redshirt junior Calvin Turchin to get the final two outs. It took five pitches for Turchin to induce a 6-4-3 double play to end the ball game. Prior to the singles, Halemanu retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.
 
The 'Bows kept the momentum going from last night's walk-off and started the scoring off quickly. After a lead-off walk by left fielder Scotty Scott, the very next pitch to junior Adam Fogel was driven over the center fielder's head for an RBI double. Fogel was left stranded but the one run turned out to be all the support Halemanu needed as he kept the Dirtbags off the board.
 
The Rainbow Warriors had chances in the third and fifth innings to add onto their scoring after lead-off singles by freshmen Aaron Ujimori and Safea Villaruz-Mauai, respectively. Both runners got to second base with one-out, but the 'Bows were not able to drive them in.

Game 2:
Hawai'i pounced on Long Beach State in the second game of the day, scoring a pair of runs in the first and second innings, chasing the Dirtbags' starter after just one out in the first inning and the bases loaded.
 
Scott got hit by a pitch to open the first and then a walk to Fogel put two on for Kaler. The junior pulled one down the right field line, scoring Scott and moving Fogel to third. A passed ball plated Fogel.
 
In the second inning, Hawai'i scored two runs on a handful of base hits including Kaler's RBI double, again pulling the ball down the right field line.
 
The teams traded runs in the fourth inning, Long Beach State on a sac fly and Hawai'i scoring on a passed ball.
 
The Dirtbags clawed back with two runs in the fifth inning, chasing freshman starting pitcher Austin Teixeira after 4.2 innings. LBSU used a walk, two ground outs and a wild pitch to score one run and then a hit by pitch and double scored the second run in the inning.
 
Two hit by pitches and a single scored LBSU's fourth run of the game in the sixth inning, but junior Buddie Pindel who came in for Teixeira in the fifth inning stranded a pair in scoring position to keep Hawaii's lead intact.
 
The Rainbow Warriors added a sixth run in the bottom of the sixth inning by using a lead-off single, a walk and a couple of battery mistakes, a wild pitch and then a passed ball, to score the run.
 
Pindel (2-1) finished after throwing 2.1 innings with three hits and 1 run against him. The righty did strike out two.
 
Teixeira's final line looked similar, 4.2 innings, three hits, three runs, three walks and a pair of strikeouts.
 
Coming in for a 6-out save, sophomore Li'i Pontes (1) was masterful over two innings. Pontes game up three hits, had one erased via a strike-em-out-throw-em-out in the ninth and got a ground ball to end the game. Pontes finished with three strikeouts, facing eight batters.

The two teams will face off in the final game of the four-game series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium. Senior Logan Pouelsen will get the start for Hawai'i with a TBA starter for Long Beach State.