LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of Hawai'i baseball team beat UNLV 18-13 in a wild and windy one Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Ballpark.
The Rainbow Warriors (22-20, 13-8) claimed their fifth series win in a row and first non-conference win of the year. The Rebels (32-18, 17-7) drop their second series in a row.
The 'Bows fired out the gate with freshman shortstop
Jordan Donahue cranking a double to lead off the game. Sophomore
Stone Miyao singled to move Donahue to third and was driven in by junior first baseman
Jacob Igawa for the first run of the game.
UNLV jumped on junior pitcher
Dalton Renne in the second, with the first batter hitting a solo shot. A walk and hit by pitch allowed Horvat to drive in another run with a single up the middle. The inning's third run came on a sac fly to extend the lead 3-1.
The 'Bows answered back in the third, with
Jordan Donahue leading off with his second hit of the ballgame. Before the next two batters were hit-by-pitch, graduate center fielder
Cole Cabrera beat out a potential double-play. Sophomore
Kyson Donahue worked a walk to score the inning's first run. Freshman-designated hitter
Bronson Rivera continued his hot streak and stroked a single to right field, driving in a pair. The final run came on a passed ball that
Kyson Donahue scored to retake a 5-3 lead.
Panaro reached on a single to right field in the bottom of the fifth. Charles followed up with UNLV's second homer of the day and tied the game at 5-5.
The Rebels struck again in the bottom of the sixth. The bases were loaded, and a throwing error allowed all three runs to come across. Charles picked up another RBI single for the inning's fourth and final run and took a 9-5 lead.
Hawai'i was not done yet, as Miyao walked to start things off in the seventh. Junior right fielder
Matt Wong smacked the game's fourth double for UH. Rivera had more left in the tank as he drove in Wong to chip away at the lead. Needing to find more magic, junior
Aaron Ujimori was called on to pinch-hit, where he delivered an RBI double, bringing the 'Bows within one. Sophomore catcher
Nainoa Cardinez tapped into the rallying energy to get his first hit and tie the score at 9-9.
Las Vegas scratched another run across as Panaro singled home the go-ahead run for a 10-9 lead.
Down one heading into the eighth, Igawa stepped in and drove a no-doubter to dead center to square things up again. Then for the first time this year, Wong crushed another ball well over the fence for back-to-back jacks. The next three batters for UH reached to load the bases for Cardinez, who delivered again with an RBI single.
Jordan Donahue poked one to the outfield with the bases still juiced for a sac fly. The inning's fifth run came on a groundout from Cabrera to take a 14-10 lead.
In the ninth, Hawai'i was not done as Igawa led off reaching base from an error that allowed him to get to second base. A Wong single moved him over to third, and a
Kyson Donahue sac fly drove him in. With two outs, in a full count, Cardinez delivered a nuke for his first career home run that drove across three more and extended the lead 18-10.
UNLV would not go without drama as they would load the bases in the bottom of the ninth. The eight-run deficit was too much for the Rebels as they scratched across three runs before Pindel shut the door on a crazy afternoon.
The 'Bows had four players with three hits and five with multiple RBIs. Cardinez had a game-high five RBIs that included his three-run home run to put a stamp on a long and wild game.
Bullpen by committee featured nine arms on the mound, with sophomore
Tyler Dyball (1-0) picking up his first win of the year.
The Rainbow Warriors return to O'ahu to resume conference play with three games against CSUN. The first game will be played on Thursday at 6:35 pm HT with graduation weekend.
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