HONOLULU – Plagued by 17 runners left on base and three errors, the University of Hawai'i baseball team lost the series finale on Sunday 8-5 to Long Beach State. The Rainbow Warriors (11-3, 3-1 Big West) did take the overall series 3-1 to open Big West Conference play.
 
The 'Bows had five opportunities to strike with the bases-loaded in the first, second, third, fourth and eighth innings but came up empty in two of those innings. The 'Bows found a way to pick up 12 hits on the afternoon but finished 1-7 with the bases-loaded.
 
The Dirtbags (1-3, 1-3 Big West) jumped on senior Logan Pouelsen quickly scoring three in the top of the first. On the back of a lead-off walk to open the afternoon, a stolen base and single quickly got the first run in. After an errant throw to first on a pick-off attempt, a sacrifice fly brought the second run in and the last run was a deep blast to center off the bat of first baseman Chase Luttrell.
 
After falling behind 3-0 in the top of the first, the 'Bows were able to get one back with the help of three straight walks with one-out in the bottom of the inning. Right fielder Tyler Best hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring in a run to cut the deficit to 3-1. After a hit-by-pitch to load the bases again, the Dirtbags went to the bullpen but were able to get out of the jam with a line-out to left.
 
Pouelsen's afternoon was done after two innings. He struck out two but also walked two and gave up those three runs including the homer. Freshman Connor Harrison (0-1) came on in relief and after retiring his first two hitters, gave up a home-run to the second baseman Calvin Estrada, the second Dirtbag homer of the day.
 
With two-outs and the bases-loaded in the bottom of the third, freshman Jared Quandt singled on a grounder into the hole between first and second. The second baseman fielded the ball but tried a spinning throw which was off line and went all the way to the backstop. Catcher Tyler Murray, who was the runner at first, did not stop running and came all the way to score on the errant throw which tied the game at 4.
 
With the game now tied at 4, the Dirtbags took their turn scoring in the back-and-forth affair. Harrison gave up a single and a walk to start the inning and then the 'Bows called on fellow freshman Jake Hymel. Hymel got the first out on a sac-bunt and the next play was another sacrifice bunt attempt. The bunt was right towards the first baseman Alex Baeza who threw it to Murray in time, but the ball was dropped allowing a run to score. After the error, the Dirtbags pushed one more across on an RBI single making it 6-4. Hymel proceeded to strike out a batter and escaped thanks to a diving play by third baseman Matt Campos.
 
In the top of the seventh, the Dirtbags pushed another run across after Murray dropped a foul ball. Following the error, two pitches later, Estrada drove in his third run of the day for the Dirtbags, extending the lead to 3, 7-4. Freshman Tai Atkins came in to end the threat.
 
The 'Bows were able to get one back in the bottom of the eighth to cut the deficit to 7-5. Pinch-hitter Safea Villaruz-Mauai drove a ball into left field for an RBI double scoring Baeza. The 'Bows were able to load the bases for the the fifth time with two-outs but were unable to capitalize once again.
 
The Dirtbags got the run right back in the ninth thanks to a lead-off walk off of Atkins. Following the walk, 'Bows called on sophomore Cameron Hagan who allowed two stolen bases and a base-knock resulting in the eighth run of the day. That pushed the scored back to a three-run game, 8-5. Sophomore Trevor Ichimura came into stop the scoring and record the final three outs. Ichimura struck out one and retired all three hitters he faced in his second scoreless appearance this season.
 
Quandt, making his third start of the year, recorded his first three-hit game of his career. Both Best and designated hitter Jacob Igawa finished the day 2-4 respectively. Best has reached base safely in all 13 games he's played this year.
 
The 'Bows will be go on the road this week to play a four-game series with UC Irvine (10-7, 4-0 Big West). The first game of the series will be on March 26th at 12 p.m. HT. Irvine opened conference play with a sweep of UC Davis.