HONOLULU— In front of a sell-out crowd and several legends in attendance, the University of Hawai'i baseball team rallied for a 5-4 win over Cal State Fullerton Saturday evening at Les Murakami Stadium.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (19-19, 12-8) set themselves up for a chance at their fourth consecutive series win over a Big West opponent with Sunday's matinee to decide the three-game set. The Titans (17-23, 10-7) continue to joust back-and-forth with the 'Bows over the No. 3 position in the conference standings, winning seven of their last nine games.
 
The 'Bows and Titans found themselves in a pitcher's duel through the first five innings as Blaze Koali'i Pontes and Evan Yates threw five scoreless innings of work. Both pitchers allowed just two hits apiece and combined to strike out eight batters.
 
Sophomore second baseman Stone Miyao broke up the tie in the sixth inning as he connected on a two-run homer to right field for his second long ball of the season. The 2-0 lead was cut in half in the top half of the seventh with right fielder Jason Brandow connecting on an opposite-field home run to right field. Pontes was pulled after the long ball, giving way to junior Dalton Renne out of the bullpen. Renne retired the first two batters he faced but allowed four straight hits resulting in two more runs to score, making it 3-2 for CSF. Sophomore Tai Atkins came out as the third pitcher of the inning for UH. He allowed a hit scoring the fourth and final run of the inning.
 
Then came the eighth inning as the 'Bows showed their ability to mount a comeback. The inning began with two walks and a hit batter, and then a balk scored a run during junior Jacob Igawa's at-bat. The bases were loaded again as both Igawa and junior right fielder Matt Wong struck out with a walk to junior third baseman Aaron Ujimori sandwich between. The heroics came from freshman designated hitter Bronson Rivera as he slashed a two-out single to right field, scoring two, giving UH the lead at 5-4.
 
The top of the ninth went to senior Buddie Pindel as he slammed the door with a one-two-three inning for his second save of the season.
 
For the third consecutive game, Pontes turned in a strong outing over six innings, bringing his earned run average to 2.91. Still, the decision went to Atkins (4-2) in his team-leading 20th appearance, throwing an inning and a third of work with two strikeouts. 
 
UH, and CSF will wrap up "Legends Weekend" with the third game of the series on Sunday. The first pitch is slated for 1:05 p.m. HT. Left-hander Peyton Jones will take the mound for the Titans as head coach Rich Hill will make a game-time decision on the 'Bows' starter.
 
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