HONOLULU – The Hawai'i baseball team swept a doubleheader against Wright State Saturday, using a heroic comeback to take game one, 5-4, before pulling away late in a 12-2 victory in game two.
The Rainbow Warriors picked up their first two wins of the season behind
Jared Quandt's walk-off winner in game one, while
Ben Zeigler-Namoa and the UH offense showed off some firepower in a blowout game two win.
Game 1: Hawai'i 5, Wright State 4 (8)
Quandt delivered a walk-off RBI double to right center field in the bottom of the eighth, scoring
Stone Miyao to give Hawai'i its first win of the year with a 5-4 victory.
After giving up the lead late in a game that was scheduled to go seven innings, the Rainbow Warriors rallied in the seventh to send it to extras before winning it in the eighth.
Jacob Igawa came through with a clutch two-out RBI single up the middle to score
Tai Walton, knotting the game up at four and sending it to the eighth.
One inning later Quandt, who entered the game in the seventh as a defensive replacement, found the right center gap to score Miyao who led off the inning with a single and give the 'Bows the win.
The Raiders struck in the first inning for the second straight game, taking a 1-0 lead after a leadoff double came around to score.
The 'Bows used a two-out rally in the third inning to take the lead, scoring three runs with two gone in the frame.
Matt Wong delivered a two-run triple over the center fielder's head to drive in
Tai Walton and
Dallas Duarte while
Kyson Donahue followed one batter later with an RBI single to left, scoring Wong to make it 3-1.
Wright State jumped back in front in the top of the sixth when Gehrig Anglin hit a two-out, three-run homer to center field to make it 4-3.
Game 2: Hawai'i 12, Wright State 2
Ben Zeigler-Namoa drove in five runs as the Hawai'i offense exploded late in the game to complete the doubleheader sweep with a 12-2 victory in a seven-inning game.
Zeigler-Namoa put the Rainbow Warriors on the board first, driving in
Kyson Donahue with an RBI double to left center in the second inning making it 1-0. Wright State would answer right back, however, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the third to make it 2-1.
The 'Bows used another two-out rally to take the lead in the fourth, scoring four of their five runs in the frame with two gone to go up 6-2. After Zeigler-Namoa delivered his second RBI double of the game with one away,
Jordan Donahue lined a bases-clearing triple to center field with two gone to put UH in front. Miyao added on one batter later with a single through the right side to plate Donahue.
UH continued to pour it on from there, adding six more runs in their last two at-bats to put it away. Zeigler-Namoa continued his big day at the plate, hitting a two-run shot out to right center in the fifth before Quandt made it back-to-back jacks with a solo shot one batter later. Hawai'i added three more in the sixth to make it 12-2.
The Rainbow Warriors did a ton of damage with two outs throughout the doubleheader, scoring nine of the 17 total runs on the day with two gone in an inning.
The two teams close out the series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium.
